38df6f51c6
Yes, this is supposed to be a new top level in the repository. For the moment any changes to this area must be cleared by myself or Jordan. Once the kinks are worked out, the policy will probably be relaxed.
62 lines
2.5 KiB
Text
62 lines
2.5 KiB
Text
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN" [
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<!ENTITY date "$Date: 1996-09-24 17:45:42 $">
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<!ENTITY title "The BSD Daemon">
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<!ENTITY % includes SYSTEM "includes.sgml"> %includes;
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]>
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<html>
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&header;
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<p>The little red fellow that graces many of these pages is
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the BSD Daemon. In the context of Unix systems, daemons
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are process that run in the background attending to various
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tasks without human intervention. In the general sense,
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daemon is an older form of the word demon. In the <em>Unix
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System Administration Handbook</em>, Evi Nemeth has this to
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say about daemons:</p>
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<blockquote>"Many people equate the word ``daemon'' with the
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word ``demon,'' implying some kind of Satanic connection
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between UNIX and the underworld. This is an egregious
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misunderstanding. ``Daemon'' is actually a much older form
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of ``demon''; daemons have no particular bias towards good
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or evil, but rather serve to help define a person's
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character or personality. The ancient Greeks' concept of a
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``personal daemon'' was similar to the modern concept of a
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``guardian angel'' --- ``eudaemonia'' is the state of being
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helped or protected by a kindly spirit. As a rule, UNIX
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systems seem to be infested with both daemons and demons."
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(p403)
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</blockquote>
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<p>The earliest (and most popular) renditions of the BSD Daemon were
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created by John Lassiter. More recent FreeBSD-specific
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renditions have done by
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<a href="http://www.mt.cs.keio.ac.jp/person/hosokawa.html">
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Tatsumi Hosokawa</a>, but the basic inspiration was definitely John's.
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The copyright holder and creator of the daemon image is
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<a href="mailto:mckusick@mckusick.com">Marshall Kirk McKusick</a>.
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A short <a href="http://www.zilker.net/users/beastie/index.html">pictorial
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history</a> is also available.</p>
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<p>Finally, it should also be noted that, despite Kirk's professed aversion
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to this fact, there is close to unanimous agreement that the daemon's
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name, should he have one at all, is <strong>Chuck</strong>. Don't ask
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me how that name was arrived at, it just stuck.
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<p>BSD Daemon Copyright 1988 by Marshall Kirk McKusick. All
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Rights Reserved.</p>
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<p>Permission to use the daemon may be obtained from:</p>
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<blockquote>Marshall Kirk McKusick<br> 1614 Oxford St<br>
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Berkeley, CA 94709-1608<br> USA</blockquote>
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<p>or via email at <a
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href="mailto:mckusick@mckusick.com">mckusick@mckusick.com</a>.
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</p>
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&footer;
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</body>
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</html>
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