TYPO3 Core

Does this method from the File class fulfill your needs?

/**
 * Returns a path to a local version of this file to process it locally (e.g. with some system tool).
 * If the file is normally located on a remote storages, this creates a local copy.
 * If the file is already on the local system, this only makes a new copy if $writable is set to TRUE.
 *
 * @param boolean $writable Set this to FALSE if you only want to do read operations on the file.
 *
 * @throws \RuntimeException
 * @return string
 */
public function getForLocalProcessing($writable = TRUE) {
    if ($this->deleted) {
        throw new \RuntimeException('File has been deleted.', 1329821486);
    }
    return $this->getStorage()->getFileForLocalProcessing($this, $writable);
}

If you set $writeable = FALSE you will get the absolute path to the file (if the LocalDriver is used).
You can do with this path whatever you like.

This issue is marked as feature and could have. So its rather an idea/suggestion than a pressing requirement!

I don't like to handle FileObjects using different drivers specifically. Usually I try to write code which works on any driver.

The reason for this issue is just a proposal. For example when working with large files (CSV, etc.) this could be useful.