Re: [gnome-network]Binary units



Patrick Costello wrote:
I admit that there is confusion about the meaning of K, M and G as binary
multipliers. However, I have seen no evidence that the SI-proposed Ki, Mi
and Gi have gained universal acceptance, or even common currency. On the
contrary, five years after the SI proposal was published, the common
industry usage is still to use K, M, G as binary multipliers. The
SI-proposed binary multipliers are probably in the process of becoming
established within the scientific and academic worlds. More than likely,
after a certain incubation period, the SI multipliers will be absorbed into
general use. Right now, though, I think that we would be in danger of
confusing end-users even more, rather than clearing up the confusion, if we
switched to the SI-proposed multipliers.
Pat

I think that seems reasonable. On the other hand, maybe most people won't even notice the difference between "367 MiB" and "367 MB" in context.

I haven't seen much of this in common usage either. Maybe we should lead the charge? I'm only half kidding. The linux kernel apparently made the switch <http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/340> a few years ago. Of course, that is much less visible. It just seems that following the standards is part of our culture.

Just by coincidence, I just noticed the definition for the first asterisk on this page:
<http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/item_main_Rio.asp?model=220&cat=35>

I guess in the meantime we should change gnome-netinfo to use "B,KB,MB,GB,...". Sound OK, German?

Jon



[Date Prev][Date Next]   [Thread Prev][Thread Next]   [Thread Index] [Date Index] [Author Index]