gvfs-open in eshell/shell-command

[phillip.lord@newcastle.ac.uk (Phillip Lord)]

I'm attempting to get gvfs-open to work in eshell. This is a little
gnome utility that opens a file in what ever application it's supposed
to be launched in. I use it frequently as I normally navigate
directories at the terminal, then use this to DWIM with a file. 

In *shell* this works fine. You just run the command, everybody is
happy. In *eshell* not a thing. Nothing pops up, nothing appears to
happen. 

M-x shell-command does work, although Emacs halts while whatever
application it launches exists. M-x shell-command with an "&" fails,
presumable for the same reason as *eshell* does. On the command line,
gvfs-open returns immediately, and does not block which the application
is open. So, clearly it's not eshell per se. I am guessing that child
processes are dying when gvfs-open closes. 

So far my best attempt is:

(defun eshell/open (&rest args)
  (shell-command (format "gvfs-open %s;sleep 3d &" 
                         (mapconcat 'identity args " "))))

Not good. 

Stuck, no ideas left, help gratefully recieved. 

Phil