A FUSE-Compliant File System Implementation Mechanism for Mac OS X

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.

How FUSE-compliant is MacFUSE? Well, enough so 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 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. To see some examples of MacFUSE at work, see the video linked on the right.

We also have some exciting and useful file systems for you to download, such as SpotlightFS and sshfs.