if the volumesupports "volfs". If it does

it concludes that it must support xattrs

on Tiger, the Finder (the File Manager) refuses to believe that the volume in question can support extended attributes

$ echo foo > ~/Desktop/foo.txt

cmd-i on foo.txt, click on its icon, and paste the icon you just copied

This will cause both the Finder Info and the Resource Fork to be set

Would it be possible to implement a "stacking" filesystem using MacFuse.framework or the FUSE python bindings?

you'll have to do the work of talking to the low-level C interface in libfuse

MacFUSE.framework is a shim atop the high-level FUSE API

I think it _can_ be solved   at the MacFUSE level using a transparent "stacking" FUSE filesystem   that will cache appledobule files _locally_

It would be a very significant contribution to the Mac and FUSE   communities if such a thing were built, as then all network FUSE   filesystems like S3, FTP and SSH would see functionality and   performance gains

I mounted a MacFUSE volume but I don't see a volume icon on the Desktop

I mounted a MacFUSE volume but I don't see a volume icon in the Finder's sidebar

sshfs isn't meant to replace things such as NFS, AFP, and SMB

Google can and has suspended accounts for the sort of excess activity GmailFS generates. Consequently GmailFS should not be considered reliable for backup purposes. Furthermore, the "Program Policies" prohibit the user to "Reformat or frame any portion of the web pages that are part of the Gmail Service" which is arguably violated by use of GmailFS, which, after all, "reformats" documents transferred via HTTP ("web pages") into data accessible via FUSE.