From owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Apr 15 12:44:43 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E620B37B401 for ; Tue, 15 Apr 2003 12:44:43 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mta07-svc.ntlworld.com (mta07-svc.ntlworld.com [62.253.162.47]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 70F6B43F3F for ; Tue, 15 Apr 2003 12:44:42 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from colin.percival@wadham.ox.ac.uk) Received: from piii600.wadham.ox.ac.uk ([81.103.196.4]) by mta07-svc.ntlworld.comESMTP <20030415194441.TIIX25105.mta07-svc.ntlworld.com@piii600.wadham.ox.ac.uk>; Tue, 15 Apr 2003 20:44:41 +0100 Message-Id: <5.0.2.1.1.20030415203820.01dd56a8@popserver.sfu.ca> X-Sender: cperciva@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.0.2 Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 20:44:37 +0100 To: jeff@walters.name, freebsd-chat@freebsd.org From: Colin Percival In-Reply-To: <200304151536.11960.jeff@walters.name> References: <3E9C2965.5080504@potentialtech.com> <3E9C2965.5080504@potentialtech.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed cc: Bill Moran Subject: Re: FreeBSD logo... X-BeenThere: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Non technical items related to the community List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 19:44:44 -0000 At 15:36 15/04/2003 -0400, Jeff Walters wrote: >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 think it's a case of American illiteracy. My copy of the Oxford English Dictionary clearly lists: daemon n. (in ancient Greek belief) a divinity or supernatural being of a nature between gods and humans. an inner or attendant spirit or inspiring force. demon n. an evil spirit or devil. Colin Percival