KIO

KIO (KDE Input/Output) is part of the KDE architecture. It provides access to files, web sites and other resources through a single consistent API. Applications, such as Konqueror which are written using this framework can operate on files stored on remote servers in exactly the same way as they operate on those stored locally. This allows for a file browser like Konqueror to be both a highly versatile and powerful file manager as well as a web browser.

KIO slaves are programs that provide support for individual protocols (e.g. HTTP, FTP, SMB, SSH, FISH, SFTP, SVN, TAR).

The protocols page in Kinfocenter provides a list of protocols available on the machine.