deal with npm:// URLs

lib/request.js

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 module.exports = regRequest
-module.exports.toRegistryURL = toRegistryURL
 
 var url = require("url")
   , zlib = require("zlib")
@@ -12,10 +11,6 @@ var url = require("url")
   , pkg = require("../package.json")
 
 
-function toRegistryURL(registry, path) {
-  return url.resolve(registry, path)
-}
-
 // npm: means
 // 1. https
 // 2. send authorization
@@ -31,6 +26,12 @@ function regRequest (method, uri, options, cb_) {
 
   var parsed = url.parse(uri)
 
+  var authThis = false
+  if (parsed.protocol === "npm") {
+    parsed.protocol = "https"
+    authThis = true
+  }
+
   var where = parsed.pathname
   if (parsed.search) {
     where = where + parsed.search
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ function regRequest (method, uri, options, cb_) {
   , alwaysAuth = this.conf.get('always-auth')
   , isDel = method === "DELETE"
   , isWrite = what || isDel
-  , authRequired = (alwaysAuth || isWrite) && !nu || uc || isDel
+  , authRequired = (authThis || alwaysAuth || isWrite) && !nu || uc || isDel
 
   // resolve to a full url on the registry
   if (!where.match(/^https?:\/\//)) {