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[Nicole]

A couple of points...

1) We are Americans.. But we speak English. Were did English come from?  Well..
England. So to me, a true source of reference would be the Oxford English
Dictionary. At least for those words with any "age" to them.
 However you must also remember that the big difference between English and
other languages is that we "adopted" many foreign words and we continue to make
up or add new ones.
 I love listening to people speak another language because I find it so
interesting that the only way for them to truly describe many things is to use
an "English" word because they have no word for it.

 
2) I had a company (now its just sort of in storage during this cold time)
named Daemon Technologies or Daemontech for short. I also trade on ebay with
the name daemontech. I have actually had people give me a hard time, question
me etc because of the name. They too claimed to be "good Christian's" and said
it was evil. Of course my reply was do you eat meat on Friday's? 
 So actually as silly as it seems, the stigma does exist however it is to a Very
Small group of people.

 Of course it is always a problem when something has multiple meanings or
interpretations. 


 Of course if you really want to be "Evil" just remind them that most all the
computers out there handling information systems use "daemons". Thus the
"demons" know all about you ;)


 Oh. and on a side note.. Becouse I have lovable chuckie as a tattoo I learned
that some people though me to be a devil worshiper.  Pa-lease. From seeing
Chuckie?


  Nicole




On 15-Apr-03 My Homeland Security Spies reported that Bill Moran said:
> Jeff Walters wrote:
>> Thread from freebsd-questions...
>> On Tuesday 15 April 2003 11:46 am, Bill Moran wrote:
>>>Luciano Evaristo Guerche wrote:
>>>>I have heard FreeBSD is quite comparable to Linux and that is a very good
>>>>free
>>>
>>> > OS. I would not use / adhere to it just because the logo it adopts. How
>>> > can a christian install an OS whose logo is a demon in his/her computer?
>>>
>>>There are a number of anecdotal stories about the use of the daemon (not
>>>demon) as the BSD logo.  It's fascinating that folks would apply such
>>>significance to such a cute guy wearing such trendy sneakers.
>> 
>> I know people in the BSD world are picky about the spelling of "daemon", but
>> I 
>> can't figure out why.  According to Merriam-Webster daemon is "variant of 
>> demon."  The spelling doesn't matter to the meaning in common language, and 
>> it's not a trademark, so it must be a type of cult to be picky about it when
>> people write "demon", or to intentionally avoid the more common spelling for
>> the sake of distinctiveness and tradition.
> 
> I don't really lend much credence to the accuracy of definitions in Merriam-
> Webster.  I know that's ironic, in that I often quote their definitions, but
> it's only because they are the best free, online dictionary I've found so
> far:
> that doesn't put them into the "good" category.
> As Colin Percival pointed out, the Oxford dictionary is much more complete.
> 
>>>Do some searches and the first thing you'll find is that Chuck (the daemon)
>>>has not satanic or religious significance whatsoever.  To shorten the
>>>history: the term "daemon" means "something that is always there" in the
>>>archiac sense.  It was used to refer to a feeling, impulse or (in some
>>>cases) the belief that a spirit was watching over one.  It had no bias
>>>toward good or evil.  When the first Unix systems were developed, certain
>>>programs were called "daemons" because the definition worked: they were
>>>always there ... doing whateve their job was.  Some time during the 70s, a
>>>cartoonist drew up a cartoon picture of the daemon as the BSD logo, and the
>>>image stuck.
>>>
>>>Similarly, the mainstream movie/telivision industry was giving the term
>>>"demon" (and it's image) a bad name by portraying it as evil and/or an
>>>emissary of satan. The modern view of what a daemon is (in addition to the
>>>confusion between the two terms: daemon and demon) was probably created
>>>mostly by the film industry. Look up the history of the "thumbs up"
>>>gesture, to get an idea of how this sort of thing happens ... or the
>>>history of the work "hacker" which is misunderstood by 99% of the US
>>>population due to the mass media's terror tactics.
>> 
>> I agree that usage of FreeBSD is most likely not going to harm your soul,
>> but 
>> regardless of the origins of the misperceptions, it's clearly doesn't add to
>> positive PR of FreeBSD.  Definition 1(a) of "demon" in Merriam-Webster is
>> "an 
>> evil spirit".  (See www.m-w.com)  Definition 2 is the FreeBSD definition,
>> "an 
>> attendant power or spirit".  Regardless of what BSD in general intends it to
>> mean, the meaning to the uninvolved man on the street is a satanic image, 
>> dressed up like a cartoon.
> 
> Agreed.  However, catering to the uneducated isn't a policy that will take
> anyone to anywhere good.  I think we have to work to educate, instead of
> dumbing
> down our existence to match the poor level of the average education.  Which
> is
> what many (including myself) tried to do with our responses to this thread.
> 
> Unfortunately, a recent post has convinced me that the original poster was
> little more than a Troll.  Although we'll find interest in discussing the
> semantics and/or implecations of the daemon, he couldn't care less.
> 
>> This reminds me a lot of the state flag debate going on here in Georgia,
>> where 
>> there's a fight in the state government to put the old Confederate battle 
>> emblem back on the flag.  Some say it's a symbol of racial hate, others say 
>> it's a symbol of southern heritage.  Should we be concerned about those who 
>> are offended by the well-known symbol, which represents hate to them, even
>> if 
>> others are not offended by it and find the symbol traditional?  Likewise
>> with 
>> the FreeBSD demon.
> 
> It's a difficult decision, to be sure.  One thing I've learned is that no
> matter
> what you do, someone will be upset with it.  You have to look at your own set
> of values and determine whether you feel you are doing the right thing or
> not.
> 
> For me, to lay some terrible significance on a cartoon image is to lose track
> of what's really important.  To get _so_ serious about a cartoon mascot, and
> replace the original jestful nature in which it was intended with some sort
> of
> super-serious contemplation is A Bad Thing (tm).
> 
> Besides, anyone who is honestly that uptight won't enjoy FreeBSD anyway. 
> This
> is just part of the process by which we eliminate the people who don't really
> belong in the FreeBSD community.
> 
> Disclaimer:
> The opinions expressed above are my own and in no way represent the offically
> stated opinions of the FreeBSD project, or my cat, who is a Satan worshipper.
> This offends my dog, who believes that FreeBSD (along with cats) is an evil
> plot to destroy the world of canines and lets me hear about it every chance
> he gets.
> 
> -- 
> Bill Moran
> Potential Technologies
> http://www.potentialtech.com
> 
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