Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Snidely Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,alt.usage.english Subject: Re: GNU Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2026 18:33:16 -0700 Organization: Dis One Lines: 58 Message-ID: References: <10pfhm2$aqf5$1@dont-email.me> <10phnao$113u1$6@dont-email.me> <1rsaf5i.1nrmqo3vtna18N%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <1rsaj4d.rtb8ajbdoy69N%snipeco.2@gmail.com> <10pkqka$22prd$1@dont-email.me> <10ppr5m$3m2br$1@dont-email.me> <10pr6gg$2t5v$1@dont-email.me> <10pv2af$1eb4h$2@dont-email.me> <87zf3wx1jt.fsf@parhasard.net> <10pvhqb$1j2vg$1@dont-email.me> <1rsjtwr.9h8wo7a6jjujN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <10q2o7j$nr7l$1@news1.tnib.de> <1rsostx.1fumdje1pdrftiN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <1rsoqz0.19zzbh71ebfb7bN%snipeco.2@gmail.com> <18a11176d0ed8bfb$1717$2710841$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <1rsqbjg.1xqvw3s77rxyiN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <2iin9mx3hc.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> Reply-To: snidely.too@gmail.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-15"; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 01:33:22 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="5a127798ce1a337216e5aed0a31bbf18"; logging-data="2182524"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18OIPxkVea2yYNmTLASIFvjtA5MnaGwXpQ=" Cancel-Lock: sha1:Eo3qR8ytcQIiXuG5GdfN+RUwdjU= X-Newsreader: MesNews/1.08.06.00-gb X-ICQ: 543516788 Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:84544 alt.usage.english:1141500 Carlos E.R. speculated: > On 2026-03-29 12:21, J. J. Lodder wrote: >> Hibou wrote: >> >>> Le 28/03/2026 à 17:28, Farley Flud a écrit : >>>> >>>> I favor the traditional units for quotidian use. >>>> >>>> First, let me say that I possess an advanced degree in STEM from >>>> a major US university. I was rigorously educated in the SI units. >>>> >>>> But SI units should be kept, where they belong, in the laboratory. >>>> I strongly prefer to buy my gasoline in gallons and not liters. >>>> I strongly prefer to purchase my potatoes by the pound and not >>>> the kilogram. >>>> >>>> Everyday living should be aloof from the strict precision of the >>>> laboratory. I have no difficulty is switching, as required, between >>>> the two mutually exclusive contexts, but technically uneducated >>>> people should not be burdened by this abrupt change. Tradition >>>> is something that is very difficult to break. >>>> >>>> In a lab context I measure power in SI Watts, but when I purchase >>>> my muscle car I examine only the Horsepower. >>>> >>>> It's like being multi-lingual. If you can't manage it then keep >>>> out of the kitchen and stay in your sterile laboratory. >>> >>> There's sooth in that. SI has a few basic units that relate to each >>> other and scales them up or down, so the maths is easy and the system >>> ideal for science and engineering. One kilonewton applied through one >>> metre is a kilojoule. Simples! >> >> So the electricians spoiled it by inventing the kilowatthour. >> Or even better, 'the yearly consumption of an average household', >> for measuring the output of windmills or solar farms, >> or the waste of a data centre, > > And lengths in football fields. > > Water in olympic-size swimming pools. Yeah, football fields differ in size (except most in the US). But not by an order of magnitude. These examples are always used as an APPROXIMATION, just as a city block is (differs more wildly than football fields do). It is to help someone get an impression of scale, usually of something too big or too rare for the reader to already have an impression of size. And usually the reader is just wanting to know how long an "ooooo..." it earns, rather than a precise count of the jectare-centimeters of a resevoir. (Common question among certain rocket-watchers use to be "how many banas can it carry??) /dps -- Trust, but verify.