``Octect'' vs. ``Byte''

Why do some autists get so worked up over the difference between the two terms? They mean the same fucking thing.

A byte is ANY number of bits (1 or more, but 8 or more in C and C++). An octet is always 8 bits. On the PDP-10, bytes are usually 6 or 9 bits (but can be any number from 1 to 36), and a word is 36 bits. The ideal computer for today would use 21-bit bytes, capable of storing any Unicode code point as a single byte and eliminating all of the problems associated with wide characters and surrogate pairs. An int on such an architecture would be 42 bits, the answer to life, the universe, and everything.