The is_readable() does not return true but the file is readable (and reading is done...)
It is not a link (there is a reported bug about it on FreeBSD) but a plain file (rw-r--r--) and the directory is readable and searchable (rwxrwxrwx)

My code:
if (is_readable("book.lst")) {
    $conf_fic = file ("book.lst");
    $nb_photos =  count($conf_fic);
   } 
else {
    print("error<br>");
    $conf_fic = file ("book.lst");
    $nb_photos =  count($conf_fic);
}

Every time I have the error message but the file is read.

I tried also 'if (is_readable("book.lst") == TRUE)' ...
(If it is a known FreeBSD bug I can't locate it: please give the bug report number).
The test was Ok in previous versions.