Linda Walsh composed on 2014-12-08 13:35 (UTC-0800): > ...A bit isn't a physical unit,... On a HD it has to be physical, a magnetically manipulated location on physical media, which happens to be used in groups of 8 termed a byte, without which the device couldn't do what it was designed to do. HD makers logically count these groups of 8 using the same numbers most mortals use for counting, decimals. > ...so their argument that physical prefixes should apply to > virtual base-2 quantities becomes even more nonsensical. > But SI overstepped their bounds, unless they want to define the 'bit' and the 'Byte' as > metric units and keep a representation of them in some clean room in Paris (or > the modern equivalent). Whether SI got the Bs & bs right I won't get into, but they did get logically correct exposing the hijacking of the centuries old decimal concepts represented by K, M, G, T, et al, and interjecting "i" to delineate a considerably less ambiguous powers of two counting system. -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe util-linux" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
