Re: [MiNT] 2 GB != 2 GB

["George Crissman" <strads@tmisnet.com>]

Ah, but 10 Megabytes of RAM (10.485E6) will not
fit into 10 Megabytes of Disc (10.0E6).

That was why there was a problem.  We needed
11 Megabytes of disc to hold 10 Megabytes of RAM.

Kindest regards,

George Crissman
strads@tmisnet.com

And it's too late to save my hair ... most of it is gone.


----------
> From: Stefan Berndtsson <stefan@nocrew.org>
> To: George Crissman <strads@tmisnet.com>
> Cc: mint@fishpool.com
> Subject: Re: [MiNT] 2 GB != 2 GB
> Date: Monday, March 20, 2000 12:01 PM
> 
> "George Crissman" <strads@tmisnet.com> writes:
> 
> > > From: Stefan Berndtsson <stefan@nocrew.org>
> > > To: George Crissman <strads@tmisnet.com>
> > > Cc: mint@fishpool.com
> > > Subject: Re: [MiNT] 2 GB != 2 GB
> > > Date: Monday, March 20, 2000 11:18 AM
> > > 
> > > "George Crissman" <strads@tmisnet.com> writes:
> > > 
> > > > > 2 GB = 2048 MB = 2097152 kb = 2147483648 Byte
> > > > > Tschuess
> > > > >    ...Frank
> > > > 
> > > > A minor point:
> > > > 
> > > > 2 Gigabytes of RAM is 2,147,483,648 Bytes
> > > > 2 Gigabytes of Disc is 2,000,000,000 Bytes
> > > 
> > > No, 2 Gigabytes of Disc is 2,147,483,648 bytes,
> > > and 2 Gigabytes of a Disc-partition is 2,147,483,648 bytes.
> > > 
> > > 2 Gigabytes of selling motivation from companies is 2,000,000,000 bytes.
> > > 
> > > Whatever any company tell you, 2 Gigabytes on any disk you use in
> > > any system that I know of, won't ever be 2,000,000,000 bytes.
> > 
> > The disc drive companies use base 10, so 2 Gigabytes
> > would be 2E09 bytes.
> 
> Yes, that's what I said.. _Companies_ use base 10, none of the
> more frequently used systems in the world that I know of does.
> 
> > RAM manufacturers use base 2, so 2 Gigabytes would be
> > 2.147etcE09 bytes.
> > 
> > We had that problem with a program that was guaranteed to
> > install in "10 Megabytes" of disc space, but actually occupied
> > more than 11 -- there was a lot of hair-pulling over that incident.
> 
> This is an incorrect statement. Saving 100MB of RAM to disc does
> not make the data 104.8576MB.
> 
> When you format and partition and save and access a disk, your
> system counts in base 2. You can try to convince yourself to
> any extent that is does not, but that will not change in any way
> how it really works.
> 
> If this causes you to perform hair pulling, I would recommend
> that you stop trying to convince yourself what you seem to
> do, because it won't help you in any way.
> 
> /Stefan
>