type. For plain files this is the size of the file in bytes. For
FIFOs and sockets under most Unixes (including Linux in particular),
the ``size'' is the number of bytes waiting to be read at the time of
-the stat(2)/fstat(2)/lstat(2) call; this can sometimes be useful,
-especially for polling one of these special files after a non-blocking
-open. The meaning of the size field for other character and block
-devices varies more, depending on the local implementation of the
-underlying system call.
+the call to \function{os.stat()}, \function{os.fstat()}, or
+\function{os.lstat()}; this can sometimes be useful, especially for
+polling one of these special files after a non-blocking open. The
+meaning of the size field for other character and block devices varies
+more, depending on the implementation of the underlying system call.
Example: