On Thu, 4 Jan 2024 18:25:02 +0000 Al Viro <viro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Unfortunately, the terms are clumsy as hell - POSIX ends up with > "file descriptor" (for numbers) vs. "file description" (for IO > channels), which is hard to distinguish when reading and just > as hard to distinguish when listening. "Opened file" (as IO > channel) vs. "file on disc" (as collection of data that might > be accessed via said channels) distinction on top of that also > doesn't help, to put it mildly. It's many decades too late to > do anything about, unfortunately. Pity the UNIX 101 students... ;-/ Just so I understand this correctly. "file descriptor" - is just what maps to a specific inode. "file description" - is how the file is accessed (position in the file and flags associated to how it was opened) Did I get that correct? -- Steve
