On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 03:37:43PM -0000, Greg wrote:
On 2025-09-29, Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> wrote:I also believed there were actually two types of widths: the data bus width, and the CPU architecture width, and that the two didn't necessarily have to match.I have no idea what an "architecture width" is. As described in my original message, you can describe an architecture in terms of the sizeProcessor word size?
"Processor word size of 64" is a longer way of saying "64 bit machine". It has the complexities and nuances already discussed, and isn't as useful a term as it was in the 50s or 60s. In many contexts "word" just means "16 bits"! It may also mean a lot of other things--so many, that the utility of the phrase is minimal without some specific context.