Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Hibou Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,alt.usage.english Subject: Re: GNU Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 09:38:45 +0100 Lines: 29 Message-ID: References: <10pe83m$3rg2l$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> <10qat4h$1fq2k$1@dont-email.me> <1bin9mx3hc.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> <10qdba3$296q3$1@dont-email.me> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net kLUqFs5WN//Xh/scrRKqkASVwMQ5/K4HJmERIL5amgqK7OLz7B Cancel-Lock: sha1:KvKRD9BuBP8lhgRVgjrqukZWzNU= sha256:dGQI1pA5cEGOqnBLi5HE/Czh5kufjkzwhnxXJ968qVU= User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Content-Language: en-GB, fr In-Reply-To: <10qdba3$296q3$1@dont-email.me> Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:84602 alt.usage.english:1141561 Le 30/03/2026 à 09:12, Nuno Silva a écrit : > On 2026-03-30, Hibou wrote: >> >> As to my comments about swimming pools, the Isle of Wight, Wales, cups >> of flour, and so on, the point there (perhaps with a dash of owlish >> humour and tongue-in-cheekiness, which colm won't be used to) wasn't >> that these are precise units; it was that they are an attempt to >> improve understanding. People need this. Enough water to fill an > > But they don't, that's the point. They may provide a false sense of > understanding, which may be dangerous. In what circumstances might using swimming pools - or Wales - as an informal unit be dangerous? >> Olympic swimming pool or 2,500 cubic metres? Cubic metres are fine for >> the water bill. Swimming pools may be better when talking to the man >> on the Clapham omnibus. > > Cubic metres at least mean that someone who has an idea of how big/small > that is will understand it with at least some degree of precision. Well, I think I've an idea of how long a metre is (forget light and time; it's from fingertips to nose with the head turned away), but 2,500 m³? That's, say, 10 x 10 x 25 m… - jings, it's big, enough water for the garden, anyway - maybe about the same as in an Olympic swimming pool.