installing to a wiped disk

[Steffen Grunewald]

On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 10:09:52AM -0500, John G Heim wrote:
> 
> >
> >I am using "disklabel:gpt" to create a GPT style partition table. You
> >can also use "disklabel:msdos" to make the old style partition table.
> >This belongs on your "disk_config" line before you specify partitions,
> >file systems, etc.
> 
> Oh, when I heard that, I thought it was a way to label a partition
> -- which makes no sense since it is part of the disk configuration.
> I should have made the connection because I've been going into
> parted and entering a mklabel command to create a partition table.

It's all about the first sector of a direct-access medium.

Some older operating systems (including SunOS) used the term
"disk label" synonymously for "partition table".
There's also the term "master boot record" (MBR) but that already reflects
its major function in a DOS/Windows setup (Suns used firmware for booting,
nice Forth stuff :)).
BTW, the MBR only consists of the first ~60% of the whole sector,
so calling the whole one a "partition table" is also wrong B-)

>  You say label, I say table. Lets call the whole thing off.

In fact, it was (and perhaps still is) to forge a "sector 0" that can
act both as a disklabel and a DOS partition table/MBR.

- S