Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 13:06:49 +1100 From: Michael Wardle <michael.wardle@adacel.com> To: Wouter Van Hemel <wouter@pair.com> Cc: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr>, doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: inconsistent use of data units Message-ID: <3C745639.8080509@adacel.com> References: <3C743707.3080505@adacel.com> <20020221003116.GA11893@hades.hell.gr> <3C744D39.1020308@adacel.com> <1014256250.304.66.camel@cocaine>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Wouter Van Hemel wrote: >>>>There is a standard on how to represent data sizes here: >>>>http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html >>>> >>>>I suggest that the document is updated to consistently use this standard. [...] >>>I would probably prefer it if we consistently used KB for Kilobyte(s), >>>and MB for Megabytes, but having different symbols for units that are >>>multiples of 1024 and other symbols/contractions for multiples of 1000! >>>No, please no. >>> >>Like it or not, 1000 bytes != 1024 bytes. KB (or preferably kB) means >>1000 bytes, and that's not the units we usually talk about. >> > > So you think this would make things _less_ confusing... Interesting. It would follow a standard, and would remove ambiguity. The current kludge of calling 1024 a kilobyte is incorrect, and is actually rather confusing to anybody who is familiar with metric/SI, which defined kilo as exactly 1000 quite some time ago. You'll also notice that those from an engineering, physics, networking, or hard disk manufacture prefer kilobyte = 1000 bytes (as it should do). > If we consistently use kb and mb (_with_ space...), You meant "KB" and "MB", right? (kb = kilobits, mb = millibits)... > and mention somewhere that all units are powers of 2, wouldn't that > settle it... It wouldn't be ideal in my mind, but at least it would be consistent. Thanks everybody for your interest and prompt responses. Regards -- MICHAEL WARDLE | WORK +61-2-6024-2699 SGI Desktop & Admin Software | MOBILE +61-415-439-838 Adacel Technologies Limited | WEB http://www.adacel.com/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?3C745639.8080509>