From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Oct 27 13:55:29 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DB8D7106568F for ; Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:55:29 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx01.qsc.de (mx01.qsc.de [213.148.129.14]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9995E8FC1C for ; Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:55:29 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r55.edvax.de (port-92-195-97-236.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.97.236]) by mx01.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id 31E713DBE0; Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:55:28 +0100 (CET) Received: from r55.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r55.edvax.de (8.14.2/8.14.2) with SMTP id n9RDtQjl001983; Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:55:27 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:55:26 +0100 From: Polytropon To: Malcolm Kay Message-Id: <20091027145526.e3a2bbec.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <200910271527.23227.malcolm.kay@internode.on.net> References: <20091026110905.f802174a.freebsd@edvax.de> <200910271527.23227.malcolm.kay@internode.on.net> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 2.4.7 (GTK+ 2.12.1; i386-portbld-freebsd7.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, rob1940@gmail.com Subject: Re: WD External Disc Drive X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:55:29 -0000 On Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:27:23 +1030, Malcolm Kay wrote: > An arbitrary convention adopted by you and a few other people > does not invalidate the dictionary spellings and usage. As I mentioned before, the (hard) disk vs. (optical) disc differentiation seems to be quite german-specific, allthough older IBM material of the mainframe era refers to "disks" when talking about DASD, and "disk packs" in general. The topic "External Disc Drive" would, according to what I have learned, usually refer to an external CD or DVD drive, while an "external disk drive", or more precise an "external hard disk drive" would describe a hard disk. > My Australian (Macquarie) dictionary gives the spelling in all > cases as "disc" but recognises "disk" as a chiefly US variant. > My Conscise Oxford (English) dictionary simply gives the two > spellings as alternatives but states that "disk" is the better. > My Webster's (American) gives the two forms as alternatives > without suggesting any preference. Of course different editions > of the dictionaries may give slightly different slants but are > most unlikely to actually contradict these possibly earlier > views. That's interesting to know. I like to learn new things from this list, even when it's about correct spelling. > I find your distinctions arbitrary and quite inappropriate; > again not meaning to sound impolite. I have to apologize that I grew up in my "IT career" with exactly the interpretation I mentioned. Furthermore, it seems to be very common in Germany, as well as the usage of "disk" for any kind of hard disk, as illustrated by the FreeBSD handbook. > So, each to his/her own > usage but please do not be critical of those of us not > conforming to your arbirary conventions. Malcolm, I will keep this in mind. As soon as someone asks questions about "/etc folders" and "IDE controllers", I will be back. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...