file: module and character special files

[Vance Shipley]

This thread interests me as I have been bitten by the inability
to read a character special file.  I had wanted to read the
values of internal temperatures and fan status on a Sun OEM 
setup.  If I had been able to read the device the whole thing 
would have been a couple lines of clear Erlang.  As it is I 
have to implement a driver, something which hasn't happened.

Unless I'm missing something it seems to me that a workable
solution is to allow potentially blocking file access only
if there are threads available.  That would certainly be
acceptable to me.

	-Vance