Re: [parisc-linux] documented Oops running big-endian reiserfs on parisc architecture

Horst von Brand (vonbrand@sleipnir.valparaiso.cl)
Mon, 03 Sep 2001 11:44:39 -0400

"David S. Miller" <davem@redhat.com> said:
> IP header length is measured in octets, so how is this possible?
> :-)

1 octet == 8 bits in RFC-speak. "Byte" is the name given to character
units. There were machines around with non-8-bit bytes. AFAIR, DEC PDP-10
had the options of 6, 7, or 8 bits/byte in 36 bit words. Purely historical
now, since (AFAIK) everybody has agreed with IBM (S/360?) that 1 byte == 8
bits. As Brian Reid (IIRC) used to say: "It is spelled 'o-c-t-e-t' and
pronounced 'byte'"

-- 
Horst von Brand                             vonbrand@sleipnir.valparaiso.cl
Casilla 9G, Vin~a del Mar, Chile                               +56 32 672616


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