On Mon, Nov 03, 1997 at 03:04:31PM -0800, Jonathan Stone wrote:
> >And who's the master of the demons? ;-)  I don't want my computers being
> >possessed by the devil..
> 
> I think this is a misunderstanding or a mistranslation.  `demon' != `daemon'.
> 
> In English, the word ``daemon'' is derived from a Greek root.  It
> means a neutral, helpful spirit.  ``daemon'' does not have malevolent
> overtones.

Hmm.. I guess the Finnish language doesn't have a word for "daemon", then..

> It's become a reasonably well-accepted technical term
> for server processes or server agents.

This I know. :)

> That the traditional `BSD daemon' resembles a demon is (AFAIK) more a
> play on words than anything else.

Yep, the fork and the tail look like those of a classic demon, I think.

>  Do you object to that artwork?  Do
> *you* think it has overtones that BSD will result in demonic of your
> computer, or are you worried that *other* people may see it that way?

I don't mind it personally because I know where it comes from, but the
people who we want to tell NetBSD about do not.  I guess some people
wouldn't care, but some might see "the nice penguin UNIX and the devil
worshipper's system" or something like that ;)  (My mother, at least,
but I don't think she'll ever install NetBSD on her hair dryer, anyway.)

> That little guy in the sneakers (or are they basketball boots?)  has a
> long association with *BSD, and you'd be fighting a long, uphill
> battle to stop that.

I know, I guess I should just stop now ;)

  -jm


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