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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."

5 of 984 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Interesting by LBArrettAnderson · · Score: 1, Redundant

    "(for the most part)"

  2. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by joaosantos · · Score: 0, Redundant

    But kilo always meant thousand.

  3. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by Zaphod+The+42nd · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Exactly. The answer should be to just start writing KiB instead of kB everywhere we currently use kB, and then doing nothing else. Whala! We're on a base 2 scale, and we're not strictly following SI, so lets be clear about that.

    I agree with grandpa that switching to SI would be dumb, and using the real kB to show sizes would be backwards. however, for the sake of consistency and correctness lets show off the fact that it is different.

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  4. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by alonsoac · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I agree with this. I see no reason why I should need to redefine standard units just because internally in some part of the computer numbers are stored in base-2. This is irrelevant for daily work. And if anyone is doing work with storage systems they would know about this and would be able to use any appropriate units but I don't see a need to redefine existing units. It seems embarrasing that this issue has persisted so long that now people wish to perpetuate it just out of habit.

  5. Re:Cannonical is just trolling us by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Redundant

    The only time 1 KB == 1024 bytes is when discussing memory due to the base 2 nature of computers/transistors. In all other cases kilo == 1000 per the definition from ~200 years ago.

    When I say I have a 750k connection, I don't mean 750*1024. I mean 750,000 bits per second. My hard drive is 500 gigabytes or 500 billion bytes. A 20 kilohertz AM station is not 20*1024 but simply 20000 hertz (cycles per second) wide. And so on.

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