Origin of "partition" in storage devices

[Mike Katz]

The RK02/RK03 (Diablo predecessor to the DEC RK05) were introduced in 
1972 so partitioning goes back that far at least.

My guess is it goes back even further.

On 1/31/2022 7:41 PM, Bill Degnan via cctalk wrote:
> OS/8 partitioned RK02 disk packs.
>
> On Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 2:38 PM Warner Losh via cctalk <
> cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 12:01 PM Tom Gardner via cctalk <
>> cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>
>>> There is a discussion of the origin of the term "partition" in storage
>>> devices such as HDDs at:
>>>
>>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Disk_partitioning#Where_did_the_term_%22p
>>> artition%22_originate
>>> <
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Disk_partitioning#Where_did_the_term_%22partition%22_originate
>>> ?
>>>
>>> It seems clear it was used in memory well before HDDs but when it got
>>> started there is unclear.
>>> * IBM PC DOS v2 was an early user in 1983 with FDISK and its first PC
>>> support of HDDs
>>> * UNIX, Apple OS's and IBM mainframe all seem to come later.
>>>
>> SunOS had partitions from the start (1982). These may have been carried
>> over
>> from the Ubisoft port, but I've not been able to confirm that. If so, they
>> date a little
>> earlier. HP/UX had them in about this same time period, but my sources for
>> that
>> are not very good.
>>
>> Warner
>>
>>
>>> Partitioning as a "slice" probably predates IBM PC DOS v2
>>>
>>> Would appreciate some recollections about DEC usage, other minicomputers
>>> and
>>> the BUNCH.
>>>
>>> You can either post directly to Wikipedia or let me know; links to
>>> references would greatly be appreciated
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>