can't figure out ssh, read lots of docs...

[Steven Friedrich]

I'm trying to use scp and I get prompted for a password or passphrase for each 
invocation.

I figure I need to figure out how to get ssh to connect without prompting, but 
I just can't get it.  I've read all the man pages and my head is swirling.  I 
went to the OpenSSH web site and got no further.  I've been in the business 
for 28 years and can usually figure things out from man pages, but ssh 
doesn't seem to be clear enough.  I've been unemployed for over a year and 
can't afford the OReilly book right now (which I'm offering as my defense for 
asking here).

I've got two free chapters from the OReilly book, but they don't help.

I've used ssh-keygen and I'm trying to login to the localhost (using it's 
hostname).

Anybody know of a short tutorial that just works?

-- 
i386 FreeBSD 4.11-STABLE
There are 10 types of people in this world. Ones that understand binary and 
then, the others.