From owner-freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Fri Apr 15 01:12:42 2016 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 999D4ADAFF6 for ; Fri, 15 Apr 2016 01:12:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client CN "wonkity.com", Issuer "wonkity.com" (not verified)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 697EF1245; Fri, 15 Apr 2016 01:12:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTPS id u3F1Cf5i062894 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NO); Thu, 14 Apr 2016 19:12:41 -0600 (MDT) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.15.2/8.15.2/Submit) with ESMTP id u3F1CfDK062891; Thu, 14 Apr 2016 19:12:41 -0600 (MDT) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2016 19:12:40 -0600 (MDT) From: Warren Block To: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.org cc: wblock@FreeBSD.org Subject: "Filesystem" versus "file system" Message-ID: User-Agent: Alpine 2.20 (BSF 67 2015-01-07) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=US-ASCII X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.4.3 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Thu, 14 Apr 2016 19:12:41 -0600 (MDT) X-BeenThere: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.21 Precedence: list List-Id: Documentation project List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2016 01:12:42 -0000 The FDP Primer word list shows only "file system", but does not give any context for the usage of that term. This is a mistake, and it's time to fix it. We can fix it with a compound word, by combining two words into a single word with a more specific meaning. As an example, consider the word "keyboard". A keyboard is a specific thing. A "key board" could be a number of things, including a wooden board with nails for hanging keys. Likewise, "file system" could mean several things, including a file hierarchy or some other system of files. "Filesystem" is a compound word, a single noun, referring to the arrangement of bytes and inodes and clusters and fragments that form a place to store files. This is almost always what we mean in a computer context. I have talked about this in the past, too: https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-doc/2012-July/020220.html It's not getting any better. People are still not sure what to use. For now, I only plan to change the word list, making it "filesystem" and adding a description for context. Uses of the two-word form can be changed when encountered.