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303 points zdw | 2 comments | 04 Jul 25 16:49 UTC | HN request time: 0.436s | source

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If you’re one of today’s lucky 10,000 and haven’t heard the original 500-mile email story, you can read it at https://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/500-miles.

jeffhuys ◴[08 Jul 25 14:48 UTC] No.44500505[source]▶

   > units
   751 units, 62 prefixes
   You have: 10 miles
   You want: meters
    * 16093.44
    / 6.2137119e-05

Huh. Never knew that was a thing!

bqmjjx0kac ◴[08 Jul 25 14:59 UTC] No.44500625[source]▶

I always want to reach for `units`, but I'm perennially baffled by the output! What's up with the * and /?

1. Symbiote ◴[08 Jul 25 15:45 UTC] No.44501101[source]▶

I usually call it non-interactively:

  $ units 1500DKK USD
      * 236.76653
      / 0.00422357

in which case it's always the first line I want.

(The second line is telling me 1USD is 0.00422357 of 1500DKK.)

Note if you use the currency conversions,

  systemctl enable units-currency-update.timer

is needed to keep them up-to-date.

replies(1): >>44509488 #

2. tmtvl ◴[09 Jul 25 12:56 UTC] No.44509488[source]▶

If you only need the first line you can invoke units with --terse.

  $ units --terse 2.4kWh megajoules
  8.64

Can an email go 500 miles in 2025?