[Ffmpeg-devel] [PATCH] Remove "bufsize" OptionDef option

[Rich Felker]

On Mon, Sep 18, 2006 at 11:34:59AM +0200, Panagiotis Issaris wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Op zondag 17 september 2006 16:47, schreef The Wanderer:
> >[...]
> > But it also involves capitulating to the attempt to change the meaning
> > of terminology, in the name of decreased imprecision. I'm normally all
> > for being precise (ambiguity is one of my big bugaboos), but I find
> > 'kibi' (etc.) to be simply abhorrent.
> Why? I frankly only disliked it because it sounds stupid (which is a
> terrible reason imho) and because I had gotten used to using 'k'

It's not a terrible reason at all. How about we start calling your
"Mister Kabi"? You probably won't like it especially if you knew what
kabi sounds like in Hungarian. :) Sounding stupid is a VERY GOOD
REASON to reject a name. I guarantee if you go in a computer store and
ask for a machine with 2 "gibibytes" of ram they'll either stare
blankly at you like you can't talk, or they'll think (correctly) that
you're a fucking nerd. :)

> with the _wrong_ meaning, namely 1024. Although it is annoying to
> change a habit after 15 years, I still think being precise is more
> important then changing a habit.

Um isn't it more like 50 years?

> > As far as I'm concerned, K/k/kilo as a prefix means 1024 when dealing
> > with binary data of any type, and 1000 otherwise - period. 
> Well, frankly, I cannot agree with that. 'k' and kilo are defined by SI
> and have defined meanings namely 1000, not 1024.

That's what it means in the SI system of units. Bytes are not an SI
unit of measure and thus SI is irrelevant to them. Legitimate
standards bodies and processes formalize existing practice/convention.
Illegitimate ones tell people that existing practice is wrong and that
they must change.

> because it was "close enough". They should have tried to find a new
> set of prefixes, not reuse existing ones with an already defined meaning.

And I suppose we shouldn't have called the computer keyboard a
keyboard because only a typewriter keyboard is a keyboard. And we
shouldn't call a mouse a mouse because a mouse is a little animal. And
we shouldn't call the desktop a desktop because the desktop is the top
of your desk...

The point being....

> Maybe we should all just accept the annoyance and all start using Ki, Mi
> and Gi postfixes, for the sake of the future generations! Do it for the kids!
> ;) How can they live in a world with this horrible ambguity!

...human language contains ambiguity because unlike computers, humans
can deal with it just fine!! In mathematics we have symbols and terms
with at least 5 or 10 different common meanings depending on context.
If it weren't for that "ambiguity" we would have either so many
symbols it would look like Chinese or else so much verbosity it would
take 10 lines to express a simple concept.

Rich