[lug] Why Linux will win and Micro$oft will lose

[Tkil]

>>>>> "David" == dajo  <David> writes:

David> My personal opinion is that, *in ordinary life*, the metric
David> system offers nothing whatsoever as an advantage over a
David> time-wrought, practical system.

a few places in my "ordinary life" where the metric system has been
much easier to deal with:

1. how heavy is a gallon of water?  related: how much does my waterbed
   weigh, when full?  how many gallons are in a cubic foot?

2. what's the conversion factor from mph (as displayed on a
   speedometer) to ft/sec (as is useful for figuring out how much room
   you should give between vehicles on the road)?

3. how many different units of "ton" do you know offhand?

4. tire sizes.  uhg.  inch radius, mm width, percentage aspect ratio.
   show that 185/70R14s have essentially the same overall diameter as
   195/60R15s...

David> Temperature scale is a good example.  Here is one question:
David> have you ever considered that 0-100 on the Fahrenheit scale is
David> a very good approximation to the range of temperatures we see
David> in life?

yes, but the fact that freezing is at 0 on the celsius scale is a
vastly better idea (all IMHO, of course) than 32.

finally, you mention that metric is much better for science.  using
different systems for science and everyday life just makes it that
much harder to apply science to everyday life doesn't seem like such a
great idea.

there *is* a conversion cost involved, but there's a ongoing cost
involved in maintaining a different system from the rest of the world
as well: stocking two types of paper, losing time due to the need to
convert things depending on their destination, etc.

t.

p.s. i believe that a lot of these customary measures arose from a
     desire to have units that are easily subdivided: 16 oz lets us
     get a half or a quarter quite easily.  360 degrees allows for
     integer expression of subidivisions to a 6th, 8th-10th, and a few
     higher ones (12th, 15th).

     now that most commerce is done using a decimal system, however,
     it makes sense to switch to purely decimal measurement units as
     well.  *shrug*