Created attachment 596815 [details] screenshot of issue (I think this is a openssh bug, but feel free to move or close if that is not the case) I ran into this dialog the other day. The Knightrider-effect and the layout is a bit odd, but the main issue is mostly the really small input box. It's too small to type in.
Unfortunatelly I think this was done on purpose. The programmer wanted to add security through obscurity by making sure the text field is so small that the full length of any password will never fit in it, thereby not making it possible to see the length of the password. Of course at the same time it makes it more difficult to use it, since you no longer have any visual response to the keystrokes you type when entering the password. Personally I agree with you that this feature is silly and should be removed, and I have contemplated sending the same bug report myself one some occasions, but never did. It is not really a bug per se, but an extremely silly and user-unfriendly design choice. Especially since you can see the length of the passward anyway if you select all text in the textbox and copy it to somewhere else (like a terminal window). I wish you luck in convincing the upstream programmers to change it.
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