[GH-ISSUE #2802] macFUSE supports FUSE 3 #1301

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opened 2026-03-04 01:52:56 +03:00 by kerem · 9 comments
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Originally created by @gaul on GitHub (Feb 11, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/s3fs-fuse/s3fs-fuse/issues/2802

It appears that macFUSE supports FUSE 3: https://github.com/gromgit/homebrew-fuse/issues/170. s3fs currently compiles against FUSE-T which only supports FUSE 2. Moving from FUSE-T back to macFUSE would let s3fs remove FUSE 2 support. @macos-fuse-t

Originally created by @gaul on GitHub (Feb 11, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/s3fs-fuse/s3fs-fuse/issues/2802 It appears that macFUSE supports FUSE 3: https://github.com/gromgit/homebrew-fuse/issues/170. s3fs currently compiles against FUSE-T which only supports FUSE 2. Moving from FUSE-T back to macFUSE would let s3fs remove FUSE 2 support. @macos-fuse-t
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@barracuda156 commented on GitHub (Feb 20, 2026):

@gaul It is highly undesirable to remove fuse-2 support since fuse-3 is a) not supported on all macOS versions and b) is not fully open-source, unlike fuse-2.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3937575735 --> @barracuda156 commented on GitHub (Feb 20, 2026): @gaul It is highly undesirable to remove fuse-2 support since fuse-3 is a) not supported on all macOS versions and b) is not fully open-source, unlike fuse-2.
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@gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026):

s3fs cannot support everything and macOS is an ongoing pain point for maintenance. The closed-source nature of the platform and its tooling is unfortunate for its users but as I understand it the only tested way to use s3fs on macOS is via FUSE-T, itself closed-source. If users of Apple hardware want to have an open-source platform then they should upgrade to Linux.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3957347487 --> @gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026): s3fs cannot support everything and macOS is an ongoing pain point for maintenance. The closed-source nature of the platform and its tooling is unfortunate for its users but as I understand it the only tested way to use s3fs on macOS is via FUSE-T, itself closed-source. If users of Apple hardware want to have an open-source platform then they should upgrade to Linux.
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@barracuda156 commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026):

@gaul osxfuse is open-source. Adding an option for macfuse is fine, just keep osxfuse support.

Re fuse-t, I did not find sources for executable, I have already raised the issue to upstream. Library is open-source.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3959665681 --> @barracuda156 commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026): @gaul `osxfuse` is open-source. Adding an option for macfuse is fine, just keep osxfuse support. Re fuse-t, I did not find sources for executable, I have already raised the issue to upstream. Library is open-source.
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@gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026):

I don't particularly care which implementation s3fs on macOS uses as long as it matches FUSE 3 compatibility.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3959754578 --> @gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026): I don't particularly care which implementation s3fs on macOS uses as long as it matches FUSE 3 compatibility.
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@barracuda156 commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026):

My only objection was about removing fuse 2 support. Anything added as an option is perfectly fine.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3959907168 --> @barracuda156 commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026): My only objection was about removing fuse 2 support. Anything added as an option is perfectly fine.
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@gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026):

This is a maintenance issue and not an opinion poll for EOL platforms. If closed-source macOS cannot stand up an open source FUSE 3 library in the 9 years since its release then this isn't an s3fs problem. You can always use an older version as we recommend to RHEL 7 and other unsupported users.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3959963491 --> @gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026): This is a maintenance issue and not an opinion poll for EOL platforms. If closed-source macOS cannot stand up an open source FUSE 3 library in the 9 years since its release then this isn't an s3fs problem. You can always use an older version as we recommend to RHEL 7 and other unsupported users.
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@barracuda156 commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026):

It shouldn’t take much to keep support of fuse 2, since it already exists. A matter of a few ifdefs.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3960258593 --> @barracuda156 commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026): It shouldn’t take much to keep support of fuse 2, since it already exists. A matter of a few ifdefs.
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@gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026):

Again, not an opinion poll. You can fork you own FUSE 2 and support all of the antique platforms.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3960287023 --> @gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 25, 2026): Again, not an opinion poll. You can fork you own FUSE 2 and support all of the antique platforms.
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@gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 27, 2026):

Looking at the Homebrew yearly analytics, it seems like macfuse is the most popular FUSE implementation:

While I like the kext-less approach of fuse-t, simplifying s3fs by removing FUSE 2 and aligning with the more popular approach seems like a more prudent choice. When fuse-t supports FUSE 3 we can re-evaluate which is the better choice for our users. I think there is one consideration about whether our GitHub CI can support macfuse that we should investigate.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3970725174 --> @gaul commented on GitHub (Feb 27, 2026): Looking at the Homebrew yearly analytics, it seems like macfuse is the most popular FUSE implementation: * macfuse: [122,094](https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/macfuse) * fuse-t: [19,352](https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/fuse-t) * osxfuse: [413](https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/osxfuse) While I like the kext-less approach of fuse-t, simplifying s3fs by removing FUSE 2 and aligning with the more popular approach seems like a more prudent choice. When fuse-t supports FUSE 3 we can re-evaluate which is the better choice for our users. I think there is one consideration about whether our GitHub CI can support macfuse that we should investigate.
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