[Info-vax] [OT] Disc or disk Was: Re: Long uptime cut short by Hurricane Sandy

[Paul Sture]

In article <kfedfe$arl$4 at online.de>,
 helbig at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---undress to reply) 
 wrote:

> In article
> <30cb251a-22f9-43a5-84c5-741ea5209d53 at hl5g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>, AEF
> <spamsink2001 at yahoo.com> writes: 
> 
> > disc - CD, frisbee (flying disc), phonograph record, DVD, videodisc,
> > optical disc (or disk), abbreviation for discount, disc brakes, Blu-
> > ray disc
> > 
> > disk - disk drive; image of a celestial body as visible in a
> > telescope, or in the case of the Sun or Moon, also in the naked eye,
> > and in the case of a star, which is something too small to be seen as
> > a normal disk, a diffraction disk (in naked eye or telescope); slipped
> > disk in the backbone
> 
> Yes, there are rules, which vary from country to country.  But what ARE 
> the rules?  Can you describe them without examples?

In a discussion about spellings to use in software documentation back in 
the mid-80s we decided that the US spelling of "disk" be used in 
preference to the British spelling of "disc" for the spinning ferrous 
oxide (aka rust) storage devices in computers.  This was in keeping with 
the widespread use of "disk" by US manufacturers (and from our point of 
view VMS and its documentation) so made sense.

Along came the CD some years later and these were known as "discs". 
Here's one explanation for that:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-disc-and-a-disk.
htm

--- quote ---
In computers and media, "discs" or "disks" typically refer to storage 
devices for data, music and videos. Phonographic records were also known 
as discs, and people who played records on radio stations were called 
disc jockeys. When optical storage devices were introduced, this 
spelling carried over into compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile 
discs (DVDs). Magnetic storage devices often use the spelling with a 
"k," as seen in floppy disks and computer hard disks.'
--- end quote ---

-- 
Paul Sture