Bug#534408: debian-policy: Installed-Size is defined as "kilobytes" but dpkg-gencontrol fills it in with kibibytes

["Jan \"Saruman!\" S." <jan@saruman.biz>]

Russ Allbery wrote:

Bill Allombert <Bill.Allombert@math.u-bordeaux1.fr> writes:
  

On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 07:49:40PM -0700, Russ Allbery wrote:Agreed.  At the time Policy was originally written, kilobyte nearly
universally meant kibibyte in the industry.  I'll change this to:    The disk space is given as the integer value of the installed
    size in bytes divided by 1024 and rounded (in other words, the
    size in kibibytes).for the next release.  (I believe this is an informative change that
doesn't require seconds.)I formally object to the part '(in other words, the size in
kibibytes)'.(I believe this change is not informative and only serve the purpose
of endorsing a standard which does not meet consensus in Debian.)
    

Okay.  As previously mentioned, I disagree and would prefer to retain
it, so I think at this point we need to hear more opinions to see how
widespread the disagreement is.
  

I would like to support the use of kibibytes; the confusion stemming from 1000 bytes = kilobyte = 1024 bytes has always greatly annoyed me. Kibibyte is an official measure since 1998, and its use is unambiguous. The fact that lots of seasoned IT professionals feel its "ugly" (including me) should *not* prevent its use. Getting used to new standards often takes (a long) time, but that never means that the new standard is not an improvement.

My personal preference would be to simply state "The disk space is given as the integer value of the installed size in kibibytes"

-- 
Jan Schoonderbeek
"I'm a stream of noughts and crosses in your R.A.M."