juerd hates software: Data size units in software

• From: Juerd
  Date: 21:45 on 30 Oct 2003
  Subject: Data size units in software
  
  top (procps, 3.1.9)
  
      "m" => megabyte
  
  iftop (0.11)
  
      "KB" => kilobit
      "Kb" => kilobit
      "MB" => megabit
      "Mb" => megabit
  
  Konqueror, Opera, Mozilla, Netscape 4
  
      "KB" => kilobyte
      "MB" => megabyte
  
  wget (GNU, 1.8.2)
  
      "K" => kilobyte
      "KB" => kilobyte
  
  Correct would be:
  
      "kb" => kilobit
      "kB" => kilobyte
      "Mb" => megabit
      "MB" => megabyte
  
  millibits do not exist => "mb" is wrong
  millibytes do not exist => "mB" is wrong
  
  Hate hate hate.
  
  
  Yours,
  
  Juerd
  
  P.S. I hate "MiB" and friends even more. Bytes go per 1024 instead of
  1000. Always. The hard drive manufacturers should change their
  information, not the rest of the world.
  
  

• From: Juerd
  Date: 21:47 on 30 Oct 2003
  Subject: Re: Data size units in software
  
  Juerd skribis 2003-10-30 22:45 (+0100):
  > Konqueror, Opera, Mozilla, Netscape 4
  
  Sorry. Netscape 4 uses "K" for kilobyte, which is more or less correct.
  
  (Historically, "k" has always been "kilobit" and "K" has always been
  "kilobyte". Please don't use "k" and "K" in any new software (unless
  with "K" you mean Kelven :)).
  
  Juerd
  
  

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