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From: mberkley@watsup.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: DAEMONs
Message-ID: <14550@watmath.waterloo.edu>
Date: Tue, 8-Sep-87 09:20:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: watmath.14550
Posted: Tue Sep  8 09:20:11 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Sep-87 02:13:38 EDT
References: <1131@nrcvax.UUCP> <48800002@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>
Sender: daemon@watmath.waterloo.edu
Reply-To: mberkley@watsup.waterloo.edu (Mike Berkley)
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 21

In article <48800002@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> mccarthy@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>      Could this be a case where the acronym was chosen before the phrase
>that it stands for was?   :-)

Actually, I don't think that DAEMON is an acronym.  According to the
Oxford dictionary, when spelled DAEMON instead of DEMON, the word
refers more specifically to benevolent, ministering, or helping
spirits.

That describes Unix daemons perfectly: friendly little processes that
run in the background, helping us without requiring a constant beating
into submission!

(apologies to the purists - this is from memory :-)

Mike Berkley, University of Waterloo

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