Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:43:36 -0500 (EST) From: Garrett Wollman <wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu> To: "Evan Champion" <evanc@concer.to> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/sys/i386/isa wcd.c Message-ID: <199810301643.LAA04371@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu> In-Reply-To: <003201be0409$e4d602c0$c9252fce@cello.concer.to> References: <003201be0409$e4d602c0$c9252fce@cello.concer.to>
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<<On Fri, 30 Oct 1998 08:33:34 -0500, "Evan Champion" <evanc@concer.to> said:
> much worse in terms of error) mega ('M') and giga ('G') prefixes. Because
> of this I tend to consider 'k' to be the correct prefix, either in base 2 or
> 10.
Indeed. As for the base units, since neither bits nor bytes are SI
units, I always make a point of writing them out in full (i.e.,
`kbit/s', `Mbyte', `Gbit') which makes it clear that the prefixes are
being used only in a metaphorical sense. (But there's enough
tradition behind `KB' and `MB' that I don't run screaming out of the
room when I see them, and sometimes will even write them when space is
at a premium. Hybrid units are even worse, though. For example, in
the new-bus-framework updates to the floppy disk driver, I made a
point of updating the bogus `1.44 MB' to the closer-to-correct
`1440-KB'. Note also that in English, when a measurement is used as
an attributive noun, as in the case of the phrase `1440-KB floppy
drive', a hyphen is used between the number and unit, just as in
other cases where a noun phrase is used in attributive context.)
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | O Siem / We are all family / O Siem / We're all the same
wollman@lcs.mit.edu | O Siem / The fires of freedom
Opinions not those of| Dance in the burning flame
MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - Susan Aglukark and Chad Irschick
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