The daemon is not a religious symbol, but...

[Murray Stokely]

On Sun, Aug 22, 2004 at 08:25:40PM +0200, Marc Fonvieille wrote:
> Maybe if someone could clean, rewrite in better english my words above,
> it'd be a start of "explaination."

It wouldn't be a start; we've been trying to explain this in our
website and documentation for years.  This quote is on our website:

  "Many people equate the word ``daemon'' with the word ``demon,''
   implying some kind of Satanic connection between UNIX and the
   underworld. This is an egregious misunderstanding. ``Daemon'' is
   actually a much older form of ``demon''; daemons have no particular
   bias towards good or evil, but rather serve to help define a
   person's character or personality. The ancient Greeks' concept of a
   ``personal daemon'' was similar to the modern concept of a
   ``guardian angel'' --- ``eudaemonia'' is the state of being helped
   or protected by a kindly spirit. As a rule, UNIX systems seem to be
   infested with both daemons and demons."

There will always be new users who install FreeBSD, see beastie in the
new boot loader, and mail us to complain before ever looking through
the website or FAQ to read our explanations.

> But I don't think we should document that... it's my opinion...
> If people are not able to do the difference between a logo/drawing
> without any religious signification and religion, it's their problem.

It's our problem if they keep nagging us. =) I like the way OpenBSD
just went in the direction of a new mascot with less negative
conotations and a cooler more modern design to boot.  It's a lot
easier to do that sort of thing when you split off from another
project though.

     - Murray