Tim Gaden01 February 2007, 11:35 PM
The recent release of MacFUSE, an OS X port of the Linux FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) kernel module, has generated a lot of well-deserved hype. But does it live up to the hype and deliver the usable solutions it promses?
The recent release of MacFUSE, an OS X port of the Linux FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) kernel module, has generated a lot of well-deserved hype.
But for most users it is still more promise than reality.
As lead-developer Amit Singh says in his MacFUSE videocast, it offers Mac users a "familiar file system interface on any type of information, whether that's stored locally on disk, generated dynamically by your program or fetched in real time from a web service".
it takes a while to get your head around this: essentially, what it means that MacFUSE can fool your Mac into seeing just about anything as a valid volume: the 2.8GB of space on your Gmail account or a Windows-formatted NTFS volume, for example.
The capability to access a new type of storage space is done by installing plugins: MacFUSE provides the overall framework, and the plugins provide the specific capabilities.
By giving users the ability to generate file systems "on the fly" it helps to cross the Web 2.0 vs. Desktop divide, providing greater options for off-line storage of your data and -- because it appears in Finder like other data stored locally -- increased opportunity and easier manipulation of your online data with local apps.
Amit demonstrates in the screencast how well it works with Picasa and Google Docs and Spreadsheets.
The recently updated version 1.9, released three days ago, makes it more user freidnly for the vast bulk of Mac users.
Complete with pre-compiled binaries for SSHFS and SpotlightFS, the benefits of the app now start to outweigh the labour of setting it up. The latest version comes with a painless installer. MacFUSE volumes can now be unmounted within Finder, making arcane visits to the Terminal no longer obligatory.
With the prepackaged SSHFS module, it only took me five minutes to mount a remote directory on the Desktop:
While you can do this with any web space, a directory on web server or the file space provided your ISP or email service, seeing my StrongSpace storage appear on the Desktop was particularly satisfying.
StrongSpace, TextDrive's secure file storage service, is normally only accessible over HTTS, SFTP or RSYNC. Windows user can mount in on their Desktops using SFTP Drive, but Mac users can't. Couldn't.
But in other areas, MacFUSE (for the moment) isn't worth it.
It is possible to mount your Gmail space using the GmailFS module and the instructions provided on a French blog. But a quick look at the instructions tells you that it's not worth the bother. gDisk and the Firefox extension Gspace do the job almost as well but for a tenth of the effort.
MacFUSE also promises the Holy Grail of NTFS read-write access, especially useful to Boot Campers like me. But even with the binary versions available from AppleNove user ShadowOfGed, most users will decide to put their faith in the rumours that Leopard will bring native read-write support for NTFS (ironically from the same people who developed the NTFS-3G FUSE module).
No doubt other pre-compiled module will appear on MacFUSE's project page, for the moment, it's largely a tool only for the cognoscenti.