Comment 33 for bug 159031

sshfs makes any remote SSH-accessible file accessible like a regular local file, with the same ancient C file I/O API blocking functions 'fopen(...)'/'fread(...)'/'fwrite(...)' in '/usr/include/stdio.h'.

But fundamentally these remain remote files, subject to network latency and timeout issues, just like web pages, and should not be accessed with blocking functions from UI threads.

The network issues were not a consideration in the era of local storage in which these legacy apps like vi/emacs/etc were originally developed, so they still operate on an old assumption that all files are local files, and try to access them in the same thread, rather than with callbacks like modern web browsers.

So I think this is not a problem with sshfs itself, but rather an architectural issue with a lot of software still assuming that all files are local files.