Re: Using standardized SI prefixes
#include <hallo.h>
* Ivan Jager [Tue, Jun 19 2007, 03:22:10AM]:
> >>Should we also add filesystem overhead to all file sizes
> >>just to avoid confusing newbies?
> >
> >Second, "du" already does that. Go figure.
>
> No, it doesn't. It rounds up to a multiple of the block size. That only
This rounding is still overhead, so don't say "it doesn't".
> accounts for a small fraction of the filesystem overheaad. (Perhaps this
> will be more obvious if you write a multiple of your blocksize to a file.)
Oh, you cannot say that easily for everyone either. Just compare an FS
with big data files with /usr/share/doc contents.
> >Sure, but it makes it possible to make it _right_ in a good portion of
> >situations. The people who really need binary units can make clear what
> >they are doing there. Otherwise they would deliberately create
> >confusion. You like to be among them? You like chaos and cheating?
>
> No, I like to avoid chaos and confusion. I do not currently have problems
> telling the size of a file, and adding an extra column of "i"s to the
> output of most programs isn't going to accomplish more than cause
> confusion for me when I use a program that doesn't waste the extra space
> to tell me, "Oh, by the way, I'm doing the sensical thing."
Really? You need additional knowledge to interpret the program output
and you call this less confusing? I doubt that.
And you care about waste? You waste every 8 bit right now!
> I can't say I adhere to, "Don't fix what isn't broken," but it does kind
> of bug me when people are encouranging other people to encourage yet other
> people to fix things that aren't broken.
But they ARE broken. Have been for years. If you make a simple analogy
from that statement to other dings then you need to declare much more
people as stupid Don Quixotes, like those who work on LFS (you know,
2GiB is ought to be enough for everyone), or on IPv6, or on Unicode,
etc.etc.
> >>How about using these prefixes to unambiguously refer to powers of 10?
> >>kd kidi 10^3
> >
> >Like in kidigram and medameter? What comes next, midroutopicans?
>
> Yes, my intention was to make a silly set of prefixes whose only purpose
Doesn't look so for me. It looks more like a bad attempt to miscredit
brave people.
Eduard.
--
Die Menschheit besteht aus einigen wenigen Vorläufern, sehr vielen
Mitläufern und einer unübersehbaren Zahl von Nachläufern.
-- Jean Cocteau
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