Why does "file" change the creation time on some Unix systems?

[Guy Harris]

 >>If what you say is completely true, you must be running a pretty bizarre
 >>version of UNIX; no version I know of maintains the *creation* time of a
 >>file. 
 >
 >If so, to what "creation" time does the -c option of ls refer?

It doesn't refer to *ANY* "creation" time, it refers to the inode change
time.  If your manual says it refers to the creation time, either your
manual is wrong or you're running a pretty bizarre version of UNIX.