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Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?)

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On 2026-10-18 16:07, Leroy H wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Oct 2026 11:57:54 -0000 (UTC), Kenny McCormack wrote:
> 
>>
>> I.e., what I'm saying is that there actually are quite a few arguments to
>> be made that US/Imperial is actually better.
>>
> 
> The metric system was imposed, i.e. forced, whereas the Imperial units are
> traditional and hence far more natural.
> 
> Forcing an entire society to change is never a good idea. 

It was a wonderful idea.

I glanced at a dictionary my British grandfather used to deal with 
Spanish units. Lots of pages explaining the many units used in Spain. Be 
aware that in Spain a city could use different units than the next, but 
certainly a region (an old kingdom) would have different units than any 
other region in Spain.

So Spain embraced the SI with glee, somewhere at the start of the XX.



Asking chatgpt for a summary.

Q: Talk to about the multitude of units used in Spain before they 
embraced the metric system, as was called then. When did that happen?


# Spain before the metric system: a world of local measures

Before Spain adopted the metric system, measuring something was a much 
more complicated business than it is today. A farmer selling wheat, a 
merchant measuring cloth, a builder laying out a house, and a muleteer 
transporting wine might all use different units. Even when they used the 
same name for a unit, its value could vary from one town or region to 
another.

Spain did not have one perfectly uniform system of measurement. It had a 
patchwork of traditional Castilian units, older Roman-derived measures, 
local customs, and regional systems in places such as Catalonia, 
Valencia, Aragon, Navarre and Galicia.

The change to the metric system was therefore not simply a matter of 
changing names. It was an attempt to make commerce, taxation, 
engineering and scientific work consistent across the country.

## 1. When did Spain adopt the metric system?

# 1791

France creates the new system

The French Revolution's National Assembly approved the metric system, 
designed around decimal multiples and subdivisions.

# 1801

Spain attempts to standardise its traditional measures

The Spanish monarchy unified and regulated many Castilian measures, but 
this did not eliminate all the regional differences.

# 1849

The decisive date: 19 July 1849

Queen Isabella II sanctioned Spain's Ley de Pesas y Medidas, 
establishing the Sistema Métrico Decimal as the national system.

Mineco Portal

+1

# 1852

Conversion tables are published

The authorities published official correspondences between traditional 
local measures and metric units, helping people make the transition.

Mineco Portal

+1

There is an important distinction here: 1849 was the year of legal 
adoption, not the year when everybody suddenly stopped using the old 
measures. Traditional units survived in some places well into the 
twentieth century.

Mineco Portal

+1

## 2. The extraordinary variety of Spanish units

Here are some of the most interesting units you would have encountered 
in Spain before metrication.

La vara: origen, medidas y equivalencias - MD Pajedrez

### Vara

Length

A traditional measuring rod used for cloth, construction and land 
measurement. The Castilian vara de Burgos was approximately 0.836 
metres. Other regional standards differed; the Catalan cana, for 
example, was much longer.

NIST

+1

asociación de vecinos y amigos de VELLOSILLO: Equivalencias del sistema 
de medidas con el sistema métrico decimal

### Libra

Weight

The traditional pound. A Castilian libra was approximately 460 grams, 
although local values varied. It was divided into smaller units such as 
the onza (ounce). The word survives today in Spanish expressions and 
historical recipes.

▷ Medida de Vino jarra de Tajueco media cántara

### Arroba

Weight or capacity

One of the most confusing units because it could measure different 
things. An arroba of weight was commonly 25 Castilian libras, 
approximately 11.5 kg. For wine and oil, however, an arroba was a unit 
of volume, and the conversion depended on the product and locality.

ANTIGUO ALMUD, MEDIDA DE CEREAL o GRANO de segunda mano por 60 EUR en 
Barcelona en WALLAPOP

### Fanega

Grain and land

A farmer might use a fanega to measure grain, but the same word could 
describe a unit of agricultural land. In the Castilian standard, a 
fanega of grain was about 55.5 litres, while a fanega of land was about 
6,460 m². The local definitions were not universal.

Wikipedia

+1

Camino Real de Madrid a Guadalupe

### Legua

Distance

A league, used for journeys and distances between places. The commonly 
used Castilian league was approximately 5.57 kilometres, although 
historical definitions and practical usage were not always consistent.

Centro Español de Metrología

+1

## 3. What made the old system so complicated?

The real problem was not simply the number of units. It was that the 
same unit name could mean different quantities in different places.

The Spanish Ministry of Economy describes how a vara, libra, arroba or 
fanega could have different values even in neighbouring towns. That 
created difficulties for interregional trade and opportunities for 
disputes or fraud.

Mineco Portal

Imagine buying grain in one town and selling it in another. You might 
discover that the local fanega used by your supplier did not correspond 
to the fanega understood by your customer. You could not safely assume 
that the same name meant the same quantity.

The traditional system also used subdivisions that were not consistently 
decimal. A measurement might be divided into 12 parts, 16 parts, halves 
or quarters, depending on the unit. The metric system offered a much 
simpler principle: move between units by multiplying or dividing by ten.

## 4. What about Murcia and the rest of southeastern Spain?

The regional differences are particularly interesting if we look at 
historical records from the Mediterranean coast.

An official Spanish conversion table published in 1851, for example, 
records the cana used in Girona as 1.559 metres, while the vara used in 
Granada followed the Castilian standard. It also lists local measures 
for wine, oil, grain and agricultural land.

BOE

This is a reminder that the old system was not just a list of 
measurements. It was a collection of regional traditions shaped by 
agriculture, trade, local administration and history.

In southeastern Spain, as elsewhere, historical land records and 
agricultural documents may therefore use traditional units whose exact 
values need to be established from the particular municipality or 
document. It is risky to convert every old fanega, tahúlla, arroba or 
celemín using a single nationwide figure.

## 5. How long did the transition take?

The metric system required more than legislation. People had to learn 
new units, merchants needed new weights and measures, and officials had 
to publish conversion tables and enforce the new standards.

Spain's experience illustrates the difference between adopting a system 
on paper and changing everyday habits. The authorities were still 
publishing detailed local conversion tables in the early 1850s, and 
older measures continued in some communities long after that.

Mineco Portal

+1

The historical significance of the change is easy to underestimate. It 
helped establish a common language for trade, engineering, science and 
public administration across a country whose local measurement 
traditions had developed over centuries.

In short: Spain legally adopted the decimal metric system on 19 July 
1849, under Isabella II. But the old measures did not vanish overnight, 
and their regional diversity remains a fascinating part of Spain's 
agricultural, commercial and architectural history.

For further reading, the Spanish Ministry of Economy has a particularly 
useful historical resource: [La introducción del sistema métrico decimal 
en 
España](<https://portal.mineco.gob.es/es-es/ministerio/publicaciones/gratuitas/Paginas/La_introduccion_del_sistema_metrico_decimal_en_Espana__Cartel_de_1868.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com>), 
which reproduces an 1868 explanatory poster showing how the traditional 
units corresponded to the new metric measures.




> To force SI units
> in the laboratory, among professional scientists, may be an easy switch, but
> to expect the general, unwashed, population to immediately embrace a new system
> of units is folly.
> 
> Keep SI in the lab and let the common folk do as they always have done.
> 
> Then there is the issue of manufacturing.  Converting a large industrial base,
> such as in the US, willy-nilly to SI units is a very expensive undertaking.
> 
> For example, virtually all lumber products in the US are cut to Imperial
> dimensions.  The ubiquitous "stud," which is universal in construction, is
> still the "2 by 4" being 2 inches by 4 inches by 8 feet.  I highly doubt
> that any lumber product is cut to SI dimensions.  The saw mills are too old
> to easily change, and the wood worker is too conditioned to think differently.
> 
> Also, most raw materials such as pipes, tubing, and other parts are still
> produced in Imperial units because most everything classified as buildings
> or infrastructure was built according to Imperial specs.
> 
> It will be a LONG, LONG TIME before US society becomes exclusively metric.
> 
> 


Ah, the colonies are so backward... :-P

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;

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The Leap Second is Dead.  How Will GNU/Linux Cope? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-16 15:45 +0000
  Re: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-10-16 16:56 +0100
    Re: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-16 17:08 +0000
  Re: The Leap Second is Dead.  How Will GNU/Linux Cope? Cóilín Nioclásín Glostéir <thanks-to@Taf.com> - 2026-10-16 19:13 +0000
  Re: The Leap Second is Dead.  How Will GNU/Linux Cope? Stéphane CARPENTIER <sc@fiat-linux.fr> - 2026-10-17 13:29 +0000
    Re: The Leap Second is Dead.  How Will GNU/Linux Cope? gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-10-17 13:51 +0000
    Re: The Leap Second is Dead.  How Will GNU/Linux Cope? Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-17 14:19 +0000
      Re: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-10-17 19:37 +0200
        Re: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-18 11:25 +0100
        Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-10-18 11:57 +0000
          Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-10-18 14:20 +0200
            Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-18 13:25 +0100
              Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-10-18 14:31 +0200
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-18 14:23 +0100
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Stéphane CARPENTIER <sc@fiat-linux.fr> - 2026-10-18 13:35 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-18 18:45 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-10-18 21:41 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-19 00:57 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-10-19 09:26 +0100
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-19 14:17 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second ...) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-10-19 02:11 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second ...) Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-10-19 02:38 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second ...) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-10-19 03:52 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second ...) Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-10-19 03:56 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second ...) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-10-19 05:58 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second ...) Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-19 03:03 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-19 02:49 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-19 11:49 +0100
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-18 20:15 +0100
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-10-19 00:44 -0400
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-19 11:54 +0100
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-10-19 20:27 +0200
              Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-10-18 14:38 +0200
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-18 14:26 +0100
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-18 18:59 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-10-19 20:36 +0200
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-18 18:55 +0000
            Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2026-10-18 19:05 +0000
              Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-18 20:41 +0100
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2026-10-19 00:15 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second ...) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-10-19 02:02 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-19 11:48 +0100
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-19 02:42 +0000
              Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-10-19 20:49 +0200
          Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-18 13:21 +0100
            Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-18 19:04 +0000
          Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-18 14:07 +0000
            Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2026-10-18 11:45 -0700
              Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-18 19:27 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-19 02:30 +0000
              Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second ...) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-10-19 02:06 +0000
            Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-18 19:05 +0000
              Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) Leroy H <lh@somewhere.net> - 2026-10-18 19:32 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-10-18 19:37 +0000
                Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-10-19 02:20 +0000
              Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-18 20:40 +0100
            Re: Metric vs. US/Imperial (Was: The Leap Second is Dead. How Will GNU/Linux Cope?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-10-19 21:00 +0200

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