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Ubuntu Will Switch To Base-10 File Size Units In Future Release

Posted by Soulskill on from the stay-above-the-belt dept.

CyberDragon777 writes "Ubuntu's future 10.10 operating system is going to make a small, but contentious change to how file sizes are represented. Like most other operating systems using binary prefixes, Ubuntu currently represents 1 kB (kilobyte) as 1024 bytes (base-2). But starting with 10.10, a switch to SI prefixes (base-10) will denote 1 kB as 1000 bytes, 1 MB as 1000 kB, 1 GB as 1000 MB, and so on."

17 of 984 comments (clear)

  1. Cannonical is just trolling us by Hadlock · · Score: 5, Funny

    First, screwing with GUI buttons, now this? Mark Shuttleworth, I'm calling you out on your BS
     
    ;)

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    1. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by Blue+Stone · · Score: 4, Funny

      Kibibytes always makes me think of cat treats.

      Is that what we want? More lolcats in our hardrives? Fuxxoring up our filesizes?

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    2. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by Sique · · Score: 3, Funny

      And there was me, with 38910 BASIC BYTES deeply ingrained into my brain...

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    3. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Actually 'B' is 'Bel' like in decibels - dBs. So kB is kilobels etc. This causes me no end of confusion as I wonder why hard-drive manufacturers are measuring drive capacity on a logarithmic scale compared to some unspecified standard size.

      I think we should decimalize completely, remove the confusing 8-bit byte and introduce a new 10-bit unit called a "dyke".

      That way there'd be no confusion.

    4. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

      When I make a cake, I don't use 1 cup of flower...

      I am glad for everyone who might eat your baking.

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      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    5. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      2. Using gay names like mebi instead of mega

      Everyone likes happy names! Oh, wait, you were probably using that in a derogatory fashion, in which case, I doubt SI prefixes have a sexual orientation or gender.

    6. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by Dewin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Is that what we want? More lolcats in our hardrives? Fuxxoring up our filesizes?

      Mebi? Or mebi not.

      --
      Of course nobody reads the FAQ! If people read the FAQ, the Questions wouldn't be so Frequently Asked.
    7. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by visualight · · Score: 2, Funny

      Stonewolf you lose.

      "...Hate speech becomes hate speech by being use by the haters. That is the same way your favorite words have come to be hate speech."

      It goes the other way too.

      And quit the psycho analysis, you suck at it.

      For the record, I deny the word 'gay' is hateful in the context used today in this forum, and so does the lesbian sitting next to me.

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  2. Re:Really annoying by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What's next? Imperial units for us Europeans?

    Hell no. Imperial units for file sizes. A byte will be twelve bits, a kilobyte will be 3 bytes, and a megabyte will be 5280 bytes. A petabyte will be 5.87849981x10^12 megabytes. There won't really be such things as terabytes or gigabytes, which will make drive manufacturers happy because most of their drives are measured in TB or GB.

  3. Re:Really annoying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I feel that base 10 is the wrong way to count.

    You must have a horribly difficult time in this world.

  4. Re:ubuntu joins apple... by The+Wild+Norseman · · Score: 5, Funny

    So yes, SI as base-10 precedes the standards-breaking use among computer engineers and computer scientists by well over 100 years.

    Wait a second. Are you talking 100 years, or 102.4 yirs?

    --
    "A government is a body of people usually -- notably -- ungoverned." -Shepherd Book
  5. Re:Just use the right prefix by noidentity · · Score: 3, Funny

    As long as they use the correct prefix, I don't really mind whether they use base 2 or 10 to display the numbers.

    I'd prefer they not display numbers in base 2. Reading a long string of ones and zeroes is difficult.

  6. locale by bugi · · Score: 2, Funny

    May I humbly suggest that for locale C, we retain the base-2 prefixes. Then for POINTLESS_PEDANT locale, use SI prefixes. To specify base-2 prefixes without maintaining the rest of the C locales semantics, I recommend GET_OFF_MY_LAWN. Or maybe just an environment variable to indicate DISK_MANUFACTURERS_ARE_GREEDY_BASTARDS with 0, empty or non-existence assuming you have traveled back in time or are living in denial.

  7. Base-19 which base by rossdee · · Score: 3, Funny

    The number 10 is different depending upon which base you use.

    There are 10 types of people, those who understand binary, and those who don't.

    1. Re:Base-19 which base by ricotest · · Score: 3, Funny

      There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary, and those who have regular sex.

  8. Re:Really annoying by TangoMargarine · · Score: 2, Funny

    nibble 4
    byte 8
    word 16
    double word 32
    quad word 64
    kilobyte 1000

    Obviously it makes more sense this way :-)

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  9. Re:And the pussification/retardization... by binary+paladin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, I really hate when the tools are use daily are made more standardized and sensible. I mean really, I know how you feel. I was RAGING the day I worked on my first motherboard that didn't require me to fiddle with jumpers and man, oh man, I about blew a gasket when I didn't have manually configure my autoexec.bat file anymore so I could play games.

    What the fuck is wrong with people trying to make computers accessible? Fucking pussies and their keyboards and their mice. Gimme my damn punch cards!