Here's the constructor definition:

```php
function Net_SSH1($host, $port = 22, $timeout = 10, $cipher = NET_SSH1_CIPHER_3DES)
```

That timeout is used in the `fsockopen` and in the `stream_select` of Net/SSH2.php. It is a distinct value from the timeout set in `$ssh->setTimeout()` because, prior to this change, you couldn't call `$ssh->setWhatever()` and have it affect things in the constructor. So the constructor had it's own timeout setting.

For BC purposes that behavior has been preserved. Although in this particular case I guess I don't have a problem with BC being broken as it seems to me most people aren't using the constructor to set the timeout anyway. In the case of SSH1 there's an extra parameter after the timeout but I don't imagine that parameter is being set in the constructor calls most people are using either.