functions. This MUST BE SIGNED, since it also is used in functions
that return the number of bytes actually read to or written from in
an operation, and these functions can return -1 to signal error.
-
+
Note that the standard Unix read() and write() functions define the
count going in as a size_t, which is UNSIGNED, and the count going
out as an ssize_t, which is SIGNED. This is a horrible design