sink() does not seem to release the file

I run Win2000, and when I try to write to a file and later use it
it seems that R 1.02.0 has a firm grip on it:

On Tue, 19 Dec 2000 Setzer.Woodrow at epamail.epa.gov wrote:

When I use sink(filename) to save the results of the run, the file
does not seem to be closed or released back to the OS after I issue
the "sink()" command.  Here is a baby example:

sink works on connections, not files, as from 1.2.0.

sink("test.txt")
tdta <- data.frame(x = x <- 0:10,y = 2 * x + rnorm(11))

print(summary(lm(y ~ x, data=tdta)))
sink()

At this point (even after refreshing the Explorer window) the filesize of
"test.txt" is listed as 0 bytes, and as long as Rgui is running, I
cannot delete the file.  Emacs cannot read the file (but Notepad can).  This happens both in the gui
and when the commands are in a file run via "source()".

Yes, but what is the bug exactly?  The connection is still open so you can
switch output back to it.  If you want different behaviour, you can open a
connection and close it yourself.  As in

zz <- file("test.txt", "w")
sink(zz)
tdta <- data.frame(x = x <- 0:10,y = 2 * x + rnorm(11))
print(summary(lm(y ~ x, data=tdta)))
sink()
close(zz)