using ssh for login authifcation

Hi

I am new to this list so pleas bear with me if this
question is irrelevant to the list.

I use ssh all the time and I am irritated that I need to first login via
my passwd and then give my passphrase. I thought why not just give the
passphrase, as I do when I do a remote login via ssh.

I got the message from the list moderator that this may be irrelevant
here - but IMHO it is related to ssh. Anyway he pointed me to PAM, and
indeed I found a module pam_ssh.so that should fullfill my wishes.

So my question is: is pam_ssh the way forward?

I looked in the pam modules for my system, Mandriva 2006.0 and found
that pam_ssh was not there, and it was not installable. Why is it
missing? Is the module unstable or has it got security flaws, or is
there something else I need to know? I just think it is the obvious
choice to avoid both typing a passwd and a passphrase so every user of
ssh would like to use something like pam_ssh. 

best regards
keld