Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 15:36:11 -0400 From: Jeff Walters <jeff@walters.name> To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Cc: Bill Moran <wmoran@potentialtech.com> Subject: Re: FreeBSD logo... Message-ID: <200304151536.11960.jeff@walters.name> In-Reply-To: <3E9C2965.5080504@potentialtech.com> References: <BAY1-DAV71D585c9HZT00005d43@hotmail.com> <3E9C2965.5080504@potentialtech.com>
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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. > 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. 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.
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