[Info-vax] Why is starting epoch 17 Nov 1858?

[Simon Clubley]

On 2021-03-14, Tom Wade <nospam at void.blackhole.mx> wrote:
>
> Firstly, human languages are very different from measurement systems. 
> Learning a new language is very difficult.  You can learn metric in 20 
> minutes.  You use your language pretty constantly, so it is far more 
> important in your daily life than how big an inch or liter is.  Lastly, 
> language contains a huge amount of literature, culture and knowledge. 
> Losing a language means a great loss of information and heritage.  A 
> measurement system is simply a tool, no more. There is no need to wrap 
> it in emotional or cultural baggage. If a better tool comes around, why 
> leave yourself at a disadvantage by refusing to use it?
>

I get the feeling that even today, there are still those in the US
who regard metric as some kind of a "commie plot". :-) or :-( depending
on your mood.

Of course, here in the UK we are still only half-way there, but that's
still a lot better than the situation in the US.

We still use miles for long distances and our rail network (for example)
is in miles-per-hour instead of kilometres-per-hour unlike the rest of
Europe.

OTOH, pretty much all weights I come across are done in metric instead
of imperial measurements and when I am walking, I plot routes in terms
of kilometres and not miles because of the use of OS maps.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.