Please use correct IEC standard prefixes for sizes

[Guest]

Hej! Currently, Servant Salamander calculates 1024 bytes as a kbyte, which is not correct and not standard compliant -- a kB is 1000 bytes, whereas a kiB is 1024 bytes. Same applies for MB/MiB, GB/GiB,... Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix


1) Please use the correct abbreviations, so one knows what amout one sees at the moment and can calculate correctly.

Example: Seeing files in detailed mode, for an ISO 4,0GB are displayed. Thus I assume I can pick another 700MB file to put both together on a 4,7GB DVD-R. But the files are actually 4,0GiB and 700MiB in size and thus do not fit on a (standard compliant labled) 4,7GB (or 4,3GiB) disc. Same applies for the other direction, example: In "change drive" mode I see "4,5GB free" for my harddisk, so I assume the 4,7GB DVD won't fit on the harddisk -- but in reality, it's 4,5GiB free and I have enough space for a 4,34GiB disc.

I fall repeatedly into those taps and it's time consuming, annoying and completele unnecessary

2) Where possible (enough display space) display both the powers based on two and ten, for example for CTRL+Q show "1,76GiB / 1,89GB". This makes me aware of the difference which is up to around 10%, depending on the amount.


I am aware this is a detail, but as the standards exist follow it and provide the user with the correct information so wrong decisions due to incorrect information are minimized. Thanks a lot

[Jan Rysavy]

Please look at http://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?t=185

[Datalog]

... but as the standards exist follow it and provide the user with the correct information so wrong decisions due to incorrect information are minimized.

Standard exist just few years. But kB=1024, I'm using more than 20 years. Please do not change to unknown "i" versions.

... just kidding but not so much ...

You're right, standard exists. Question is, if it's really necessary to switch to it, and when. For example: Do You know, that gif have "standard", but in some special cases is widely used something other?

Btw, look at: http://forum.altap.cz/viewtopic.php?t=185

[SvA]

a kB is 1000 bytes, whereas a kiB is 1024 bytes.

There is no such thing as a kiB. The official binary abreviation is KiB (with a capital K)
Then let's look at tha B-part. ist stands for byte. A byte is

A contiguous sequence of a fixed number of bits (binary digits). In recent years, the use of a byte to mean 8 bits has become nearly ubiquitous.

So you care about 24 more ore less in a K, but don't care about how many bits are in a byte?

In computer science a K has traditionaly been 2**10. Everybody, appart from some rare exceptions use it this way (the exceptions beeing communication people and hardware manufacturers (and maybe some other people who feel urged to brag about with higher figures) and furthermore some standardisation bodies and their devout followers). Changing this in Salamander would create nothing but confusion.

Is there any file manager which uses the binary prefixes or the decimal prefixes in their decimal meaning?

[Georgd]

Then let's look at tha B-part. ist stands for byte. A byte is

A contiguous sequence of a fixed number of bits (binary digits). In recent years, the use of a byte to mean 8 bits has become nearly ubiquitous.

So you care about 24 more ore less in a K, but don't care about how many bits are in a byte?

Except for FTP and the like I never stumbled across bytes != 8 bit. Seems to be used in the same way nearly always, opposed to...

In computer science a K has traditionaly been 2**10. Everybody, appart from some rare exceptions use it this way

...what basically means MB and MiB are both used for size lables on disks (DVD, HDDs, Music Players etc.) Thus I'd like to have both infos everywhere in Salamander. It does not look like a big deal but helps.

@Moderators: Could you please move all these posts to the other thread? Thanks

/Georg