exactly. and if the added burden of having to maintain (or more likely, just download) a version of ssh that supports dsa means that some piece of legacy hardwa

exactly. and if the added burden of having to maintain (or more likely, just download) a version of ssh that supports dsa means that some piece of legacy hardware is no longer cost effective, then it's probably time to upgrade that legacy hardware. and you (the general you) should probably be thanking the openssh folks for all the work they've done for the last 8+ years keeping the dsa code around which allowed you (the general you) to externalize that cost.