> > On Thu, Aug 19, 1999 at 03:57:34PM -0700, B. James Phillippe wrote:
> >
> > > Isn't this because a "longword" is 32 bits? So the use of "q" for
> > > "quadword" is appropriate for a 64 bit operation.
> >
> > How confusing, on MIPS q stands for quadword, 128 bit.
>
> That is confusing, and most unfortunate. Redfining the word (and thus long
> and quad) is almost as broken as redefining the byte.
But a byte is only a foggy defined entity of a few bits anyway. There
were and are machines with != 8 bits per byte. That's why there is the
term octet. And why it's why the French comittee for keeping their
language made a wrong decission ...
Ralf
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