HDFS doesn't really work as a normal filesystem. I think some other commenters pointed out the challenges with FUSE. If I recall correctly there isn't really a

HDFS doesn't really work as a normal filesystem. I think some other commenters pointed out the challenges with FUSE. If I recall correctly there isn't really a way to modify an existing file via HDFS, so you'd have to copy/edit/replace. Append used to be an issue, but that got sorted out a few years back. Erasure coding is available in the latest versions. Which helps with replication costs. I think, HDFS may just be a simpler setup than other solutions. (which is to say its not all that simple, but easier than some other choices). And I wouldn't use HDFS as a replacement for block storage, which is something I've seen done with Ceph.