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Softonic Rating:: Very good:8/10
License:: Free (GPL)
Added:: February 29, 2008
Publisher:: Website
File size:: 764 KB
Downloads:: 7

DownloadFree (GPL)

“FUSE-compliant file system implementation mechanism”

by Cyril Roger

With MacFUSE you can easily access non native file systems on your Mac.

Originally, MacFUSE is a Linux open source project that was brought to Mac by Google for a more extended handling of file systems. A lot of development is being carried out with this type of technology which basically works as a system of plugins that quickly integrate new file systems. We should soon be seeing more and more intuitive interfaces built out of all sorts of information using MacFUSE.

MacFUSE allows you to mount files and folders, both local and external as volumes and integrate them to your system. You can for example access a drive via FTP in read/write mode directly from your Finder and handle files and folders just like if they were on your own drive. Because it supports FUSE specifications, MacFUSE can compile a wide range of FUSE systems.

Obviously, MacFUSE is not too be used by any sort of users. It'll be of most interest to users with technical and systems knowledge.

MacFUSE is the ultimate tool to open up your Mac to other file systems and operating systems.

Languages:

English

OS requirements for MacFUSE:

OS: Mac OS X

Minimum requirements:

Mac OS X 10.5 or later

Pros

Popular FUSE systems can be compiled
Easy and quick integration

Cons

Technical knowledge required

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From the publisher of MacFUSE

MacFUSE implements a mechanism that makes it possible to implement a fully functional file system in a user-space program on Mac OS X (10.4 and above). It aims to be API-compliant with the FUSE (File-system in USErspace) mechanism that originated on Linux. Therefore, many existing FUSE file systems become readily usable on Mac OS X. The core of MacFUSE is in a dynamically loadable kernel extension.

Although MacFUSE has a completely different kernel-level implementation from Linux FUSE, it supports the FUSE specification well enough that many popular FUSE file systems can be easily compiled and work on Mac OS X--often out of the box. Examples of file systems that work and have been tested (to varying degrees) include sshfs, ntfs-3g (read/write NTFS), ftpfs (read/write FTP), wdfs (WebDAV), cryptofs, encfs, bindfs, unionfs, beaglefs (yes, including the entire Beagle paraphernalia), and so on.

Besides making many existing FUSE file systems available on Mac OS X, MacFUSE opens up a whole new set of opportunities for Macintosh developers, who can now put intuitive and innovative interfaces around all kinds of information.