> > is it really true?
> >
> >
> > it was true (with much difference) with linux at least 2.2.* kernels
>
> I don't think it's true for *BSD. I didn't run any tests but I can't see
> why this would make a difference.
>
in linux disk access optimization were done on fs level at least in 2.2.*
kernels (or at least disk-level optimization were very poor).

so with 2 partitions lots too much seeks were done.

NetBSD does disk-level optimization like sorting requests etc. so it
shouldn't matter