GCOS8 Storage Units
We have become accustomed to an almost universal terminology for units of storage. Modern terminology applies across various operating systems and computer vendors, and is part of everyday conversation. Terms like megabyte and gigabyte mean much the same to everyone, and terms like mebibyte and gibibyte have been formally standardised.
However, the GCOS8 system pre-dates this mono-culture with some colourful units of its own, as follows:
| Unit | Full Name | Meaning | Generic Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| WORD | Word | 36 bits, 6 BCD chars, 4 ASCII chars | 4 bytes |
| LLINK | Little Link (sometimes "block") | 320 words | 1280 bytes or 1.25 kibibytes |
| LINK | Link | 12 LLINK's | 15,360 bytes or 15 kibibytes |
| BLINK | Big Link | 5 LINK's | 76,800 bytes or 75 kibibytes |
Note that in this system a byte contains 9 bits with values ranging from (000)8 to (777)8 or 0-511, unlike the usual 8-bit-bytes with values ranging from (00)16 to (FF)16 or 0-255.
Read more about this topic: General Comprehensive Operating System
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