Newsgroups: comp.arch
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: bi-endian environments
Message-ID: <1991May15.225146.1201@zoo.toronto.edu>
Date: Wed, 15 May 1991 22:51:46 GMT
References: <1991May15.004848.11929@sobeco.com> <12168@uwm.edu>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <12168@uwm.edu> jgd@convex.csd.uwm.edu writes:
>> This is what "network byte order" is all about...
>
>Silly question time:  What is a "byte"?
>There seems to be an assumption of 8-bitted-ness here.  We (until
>recently) had a machine running Unix that used 9-bit bytes.  How
>does this map into your assumptions?

Poorly, like the 36-bit machines and other oddities.  The fact is that
almost all network protocols are specified as sequences of 8-bit bytes.
(The word "octet" is often used as a more neutral term.)  If your machine
doesn't like 8-bit bytes, that is its problem. :-)  The usual approach
is to pick one of several revolting kludges.
-- 
And the bean-counter replied,           | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
"beans are more important".             |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry