Proxies to the Rescue?

Ok, at this point I’ve now noticed at least 2 “applications” for the iPhone that require the user to set-up some sort of proxy:

• IRC on the iPhone
• SSH for the iPhone

Both applications require you to install software on your home computer (which must be connected to the Internet). Running these proxies will open up a port on your home computer (which must be exempted from any firewall you might have) so that you might hit http://yourIPaddress:port/whatever from your iPhone.

Besides the security implications of opening up these ports and running this code, is this really even necessary? I’ve long wondered why some enterprising company didn’t offer free web-enabled SSH (hosted on their servers and on port 80). As a consultant working at a client’s site behind firewalls, I would have given my pinky toe for something like this on numerous occasions. So, time for someone to step up? Can it be that hard?