Web Accessible User Directories

[Manish Kathuria <mkathuria tuxtechnologies co in>]

Hello,

Is there any way to make the user home directories on a Linux system accessible through a  password protected web interface ?  I am looking for ways to make users access the data lying in their respective directories through a web browser. A simple option is to run a ftp server and use the FTP protocol through a web browser, which however, is the last choice.

Alternatively, is there any application which can authenticate users and make their designated directories  (which may or may not be under home directories) accessible through a web interface ?

I would appreciate some suggestions or pointers.

Thanks,
-- 
Manish