[PLUG] Different file sizes on different computers

Rick rdoyle16+plug at gmail.com
Wed Dec 11 02:17:14 UTC 2013


KB, MB, GB, TB, etc. are ambiguous unit designations that can be used to
mean _either_ 1000-base units, or 1024-base units.

KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB, etc. are actual units that specifically indicate that
1024-base units are being used.

Rather annoying that anyone would use 1000-base units... I blame
manufacturers/retailers who prefer them because they make storage devices
"sound" bigger than they actually are. 1000-base units don't (IMHO) deserve
their own "specific" units... but, I suppose it would clarify things...
perhaps GbsB (you can interpolate your own meaning for the "bs" in the
middle). But I digress..

It has, over the years, been somewhat unusual (in my experience) to see
KiB, MiB, etc. displayed as such (even when 1024-base units are in use) -
especially in the "very" end-user space of most GUIs... of course, usage in
"your" distro/desktop/application may very.

My initial thought was that you were seeing a blocksize issue - but I would
assume that your GUI tools would report actual file size (which shouldn't
change)... many tools will *also* report "disk usage" of a file - this is
what WILL change (and could cause concern when comparing files) based on
block size differences. I don't know that I've ever seen a general tool
that displays *only* disk usage.

I haven't done the math myself (call me lazy, I'm on "vacation" today)...
but I'll trust Cian's calculations... assuming the numbers are
corresponding values (one in 1000-base, one in 1024-base, units)... I can't
imagine that there is any other explanation.

+1 for using a file-digest for file comparisons... MD5 works fine for this
use - just is no longer appropriate for encryption and key-type uses.
Perhaps someone has some info (or wants to run an experiment) about which
digest is faster - this could be useful info if comparing many and/or
particularly large files.

Wow... ok, I didn't intend to write that much (sorry)... but good topic -
touches on a lot of pertinent issues... many of which are cause for
misunderstanding on a regular basis.

-Rick


On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 11:09 AM, Joe Niski <joeniski at easystreet.net> wrote:

> On 2013-12-10, 10:53 AM, "John Jason Jordan" <johnxj at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
> >Thanks. Both are reported as 4096. And both filesystems are ext4. So
> >that leaves Cian's GiB - GB suggestion looking more likely. But Thunar
> >used "GB" and "MB" on both computers, not "GiB" or "MiB." I wonder if
> >they changed it between 1.2.3 and 1.6.3 but failed to change the text
> >of the GUI window.
>
> This thread may help shed some light on the matter:
>
> http://askubuntu.com/questions/110999/is-it-possible-to-switch-ubuntu-back-
> to-base-2
> ________________________________________
> Joe Shisei Niski
> Portland, Oregon, USA
> 至誠
>
>
>
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