> >  Say, I have a ppp connection and start ssh from an xterm. X freezes
> >  for about 25 seconds, and when it comes back, the load is > 2.0.
> >  This is sort of extreme.
[...] 
> >  Any explanations? Plain telnet doesn't do this. openssl is built
> >  with -O3 -fomit-frame-pointer by default, could this cause problems
> >  on m68k?

 That's not the problem. I recompiled with -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer, no change.

> I bet the real difference turns out to be in ssh's Big Number library
> (in m68k assembly) vs. openssl's m68k assembly. It might be worth
> looking into. In the meantime, try blowfish instead of 3des.

 I'm using blowfish right now. Down to 24 seconds :-/

 Maybe that 68040 cache related fix in 1.4.2 wasn't such a great idea
 after all ...