[Python-3000] sizeof(size_t) < sizeof(long)

[Joel Bender]

Mike Meyer wrote:

> Yup, it's probably futile - most people don't care about portability
> or precision, and will use "byte" to mean "8-bit byte".

Nor will this be an issue in Python.  Maybe an inset paragraph on some 
footnote of a bit of documentation on a wiki page.

> Standards can't get away with the sloppy usage that's common
> practice. So they wind up providing definitions for words that may
> seem to contradict or repeat common usage, or using uncommon words
> with a precise meaning in place of a common word that usually, but not
> always, has that meaning.

As Guido succinctly wrote to me:

 > ...octet is not, and never will be a technical term for
 > Python. It is a silly standards body compromise.

While I think "silly" might have been an overstatement, I think the 
point is clear enough.  In the context of Python, bytes will be 8 bits, 
and arguments about the appropriateness of that definition are silly.


Joel