I use rsync to distribute files from a non-OS X server to OS X clients. I think using ._ files would clearly be the best solution for the non-OS X side if you can get the sorting issue worked out. That way the files on the non-HFS+ side of the rsync could be accessed directly by the Mac if mounted via SMB or NFS.
I also wanted to share a little known tool I found through Googling that is the hack I use to make rsync work for me currently. "FixupResourceForks" pushes metadata and resource forks stored in ._ files back into the filesystem. For the record, this is how I currently use rsync to copy files between OS X machines:
1. Use the Finder (or CpMac, or other utils) to copy my data from an HFS partition to a UFS or NFS partition on a server. 2. Use rsync to copy the files from the non-HFS+ partition to an HFS+ partition on a Mac 3. On the client OS X machine, run /System/Library/CoreServices/FixupResourceForks on the root of the synced tree on the HFS+ partition.
The disadvantage to this method is that all resource forks and metadata (all ._ files) are re-synced every time rsync runs because FixupResourceForks deletes the ._ files in the process of pushing the data into the filesystem, but this is fortunately a small amount of data for me.
Hope this helps someone until the *real* rsync solution is developed. (I *do* need type/creator/icon information, so this patch wouldn't work for me just yet.)
Greg
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