The Theory :
I'd like Boot Manager to be able to connect to a http or ftp (or even TFTP) url to download firmwares and APP as easily as if it was a USB drive.
So I went to ps2dev svn depository and search for a FTP client for PS2, and find one : tenftp. And what is great is that it's an IRX driver, ready to be installed into the SHARED directory of BM.

From the readme :
Code:
tenftp
Copyright (c) 2004 "Tentacle" Hajo Krabbenhöft hajo@krabbenhoeft.de
--

tenftp is a filesystem driver for the IOP processor.

it tries to allow you to use 
ftp:// in file commands like fioOpen


usage:

ftp://user:pass@ip:port/
gives you root listing

ftp://user:pass@ip:port/path/
gives you a listing of /path/

ftp://user:pass@ip:port/path/file.ext
opens file.ext



currently dOpen wont work, use the listing path instead
<-i'm working on this

if you dont specify //user:pass@ip:port/
the last server will be used
It seams that it is handled as a filesystem.

So, would it be possible to use it as the USBHDD or HOST driver ?
In BootManager, will it appeared in the DEV source menu ?

The Practice :
I've started to prepare the DEVINFO.PBT. I didn't have time to go further but I plan to add a variable with the IP Address of the FTP server and add it to the name of the dev in DEVINFO.PBT. This way, I won't have to change a single line of code in BM scripts.

Am I completely crazy or is the theory good ?
If this is not the good path, Would it be possible to add a IRX driver for accessing to news, APPS and firmware update via the Internet ?