[gentoo-embedded] ftdi ft232r programming howto

Hi list!

Has anybody ever tried to communicate through a ft232r, which is a usb to 
rs232 converter?
I read through the documentation of ftdi (www.ftdichip.com) but all I 
found, was the documentation for windows.
I want to make this converter work on an embedded linux box, running a 
2.6.14 kernel, including the module (ftdi_sio)
I see the device (/dev/ttyUSB0) but, how can I configure it (buffers, 
transfer speed, ...) and how can I read from the device and write to the 
device.

Could anybody give me some advice on where to start or did anybody write 
some piece of code, which works with such a converter?

Thanks in advance!

Kind regards,
Andy