Re: [gnome-network]Binary units

[Carlos Morgado <chbm gnome org>]

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 16:17:14, Rodney Dawes wrote:

> >
> > You read very poor "technical documents".
>
> Or you do. Not all "technical documents" are targeted at the same
> audience. And all the documents targeted at the audience that the

All technical documents are targeted at a technical audience. If non  
technical people try to read technical documents they are on their own as am  
I when I try to read legal or medical documents. However, while most people  
doesn't pretend to understand medical documents they do pretend to understand  
legal and technical documents and it's so easy to piss about pseudo-technical  
stuff.


> 90% of the people on the planet must be psychic then. I've never seen
> these "standard" units that you speak of, used *anywhere*. Every other

You must have fun trying to use metered services. Your "but I only used  
4910MB, not 5051MB" argument must go really well when you're trying to  
explain your provider you shouldn't pay surcharges.


> operating system I've seen, uses [KMGT]B. Every gaming system I've seen,
> uses this notation. Every piece of software I've seen, every book I've
> read.

Maybe you should read engineering books instead of whatever you're reading  
now.


> > > > b) there is a real standard alternative that everyone undertsands.
> > >
> > > Are you sure? I've never heard of or seen these units you speak of  
> being
> > > used in a technical application. I have no idea what you are talking
> >
> > Again, you should find better documents.
> > People who now write 'KB' won't notice the diference to 'KiB'.
>
> They will. Or at least, they better. That's the whole point, right? To
> spread knowledge and understanding of the shadowy scientific standards
> world? People will notice. And they will say "wtf is a KiB?". Because,

In that case they will probably learn.


> sedan. Some things are standards simply by default, because of their
> wide-spread usage. Such is why the [KMGT][bB] style notation for bits
> and bytes are standards. Also, let me point out the implementations of
> things where a byte isn't 8 bits. There is no such thing as better

That's why technical documentation defines bytes or reads octets. Anyone who  
reads technical documents knows this.

> I can see that you aren't trying to gain endearment. Your attitude seems
> to be completely against anything other than "I am right. You are
> wrong.". The units are not make-believe as one would have you believe.
> They are in wide-spread use, and have been for more than 20 years. There
> is absolutely nothing about them that would make them be any more
> make-believe than the unit notation that you claim to be a standard. You

I don't claim. The international body which defines units and notations does.  
You probably live somewhere that uses interesting units like furlongs per  
forthnight but a great deal of the world uses the SI units and the metric  
system. That means for most people KB is not only wrong, it's also misleading  
and might get them in trouble.


> legal or morally acceptable (where the morals are a specified set). What
> you believe a person with a doctorate should defend, and what that
> person believes they should defend, can be very different. I could sign

A professor of science should profess science.

> "New Age Slacker" or "Lead Technical Secretary of the Cabinet" also. I
> don't see what stating your major(s) or minor(s) at a university would
> gain you, even if it is irrelevant. If a person has a doctorate, her
> title is "Doctor" regardless of the field in which that title was
> acquired. That's just how things work. And since Andreas seems to have
> a PhD and seems to be a Professor of Mathematics and Computer Sciences,
> his title is very much relevant.

(I wasn't very clear there, I am entitled to use Eng however I don't cause I  
think it's pointless in most contexts)

> Please don't continue to post useless personal digressions to this
> thread. It's a waste of time and deters from getting things done. Based
> on the goals of the GNOME Project as a whole, the proper notation to
> use is the [KMGT][bB] notation that the general global populace is used

The goal of the GNOME Project is to help spread wrong misleading  
information ?

Where can I get 1Mdm^3 of water for the price 1000 l ?
Wouldn't it be nice if my 640kbps line would really carry 655360 bits per  
second ? Well, it doesn't.

If you trully believe the GNOME project's goal is too keep users ignorant  
(ie. suckers) do go ahead.

--
Carlos Morgado - chbm(a)ma.ssive.net - http://chbm.net/ 
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