On Tuesday 12 June 2007 14:57, Darren Salt wrote: > I demand that Josselin Mouette may or may not have written... > > [snip] > > > When I use a computer program, I don't want to wonder whether it uses > > precise units or approximate ones. A computer is a damn stupid machine > > and it will never know whether I need precision. Which is why it should > > *always* do things the precise way. > > Agreed. Use 1024 rather than the imprecise and misleading 1000...
Come now, there is no inherent difference in *precision* between 1000 and
1024, or K/k and Ki. Precision is the number of digits an amount is expressed
in. *Accuracy* is the correctness of an amount, and depending on the
situation, either kB or KiB may allow one to express an amount accurately
with the least number of digits. For example, 1 Kibyte is exactly 1024 byte
(1.024 kbyte), and 1 kbyte is exactly 1000 byte (can't be expressed exactly
as a decimal fraction in Kibyte, because 0.1 Kibyte is a non-integral number
of bytes). Hence, having two sets of prefixes to choose from depending on
what fits best is the best option.
--
Magnus Holmgren [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(No Cc of list mail needed, thanks)
"Exim is better at being younger, whereas sendmail is better for
Scrabble (50 point bonus for clearing your rack)" -- Dave Evans
pgpXkCK9UzpD1.pgp
Description: PGP signature
