Re: GB vs. MB (fwd)
Robert Glamm (glamm@mountains.ee.umn.edu)
Wed, 27 Nov 1996 12:38:01 -0600 (CST)
> >>> I like the disk size message in sd.c but since
> >> 1MB == 1024*1024 == 2^20,
> >>
> >> It isn't as simple as that.
> >>
> >> 1MB of RAM is, indeed, equal to 1024*1024 bytes.
> >> But 1.44MB floppy has 1.44*1000*1024 bytes.
> >> With hard disks, your mileage may vary.
>
> > I think that linux should report what's true, not what the
> > marketers shove down our throats. A megabyte is 2^20, it
> > should be reported as such.
>
> People expect a disk MB to be 10^6 now, so maybe Linux should
> do what people expect. With 2^20, it looks like Linux makes
> disks get smaller.
WHO expects disk MB to be 10^6 now (or GB = 10^9)? The last thing I want
is improper size reporting from df, du, or fdisk. RAM will always be
2^10 = 1K, 2^20 = 1M, 2^30 = 1G, etc.; why have two amounts for the same
name? If you got 10^9 bytes of RAM for your machine it would probably
whine pretty hard about that last unfilled MB.
--
"Honestly, it's like shooting | Bob Glamm H: +1 612 6239437 W: +1 612 6268981
fish in a barrel. Twice. With | URL: http://www-mount.ee.umn.edu/~glamm
an elephant gun. At point +-----------------------------------------------
blank range. In the head." -- from the BOFH files, part 6