73 lines
3 KiB
Text
73 lines
3 KiB
Text
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN" [
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<!ENTITY date "$Date: 1997-07-01 03:52:00 $">
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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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<!-- $Id: daemon.sgml,v 1.5 1997-07-01 03:52:00 max Exp $ -->
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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.mckusick.com/beastie/index.html">pictorial
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history</a> is also available. There is a gallery of FreeBSD related
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<A HREF="./publish.html">publications</A> that use
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variations of the daemon graphic.</p>
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<p>The stuffed daemon
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<a href="http://www.de.freebsd.org/de/gif/bsd/index.html#plushies">
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plushies</a>
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are now shipping from
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<a href="http://www.Liebscher.FreibergNet.de/plueschtiere/">
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Liebscher & Partner</a>.
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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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