> Followup to: <Pine.LNX.3.95.990729213635.852A-100000@localhost>
> By author: Gerard Roudier <groudier@club-internet.fr>
> In newsgroup: linux.dev.kernel
> >
> > If both endian modes are really equivalent for the hardware, then the
> > right choice may depend on the following:
> >
> > - If you are a purist, you may just toss a coin to decide, since none
> > endian mode is superior to the other one.
> >
>
> This is the common "peacemaking" wisdom, but I think, in fact, there
> are valid technical arguments for both views (my own techical
> assessment: littleendian is technically superior, but bigendian is
> used on the 'net. Some humans find littleendian confusing because
> most modern human writing systems write numbers in bigendian form.)
The problem is that most western languages are written left to right,
while numbers (Arabic) are written right to left. Arabic isn't bigendian
from the pov of Arab readers, who start reading on the right.
Therefore, bigendian is a compatibility hack dating back more than a
thousand years.
-- "Love the dolphins," she advised him. "Write by W.A.S.T.E.."
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