There are few situations that require users to provide their password while automating things during development process. Site deployment is only one of the common situations. Creating dmg files under OS X requires password as well. Most of the command line utilities used in scripts has an ability to receive a password via stdin.
Providing password each time the script is run kinda defeats the purpose of "automatic". Storing it plain text in the script defeats the purpose of "password". What is the most optimal approach to providing passwords to scripts that requires them?