Linux move to FreeBSD

[Svein Halvor Halvorsen]

* sparxz at excite.com [2005-07-02 19:35 -0400]
>  FreeBSD looks like a good stating place for me, but one think about 
>  FreeBSD makes me uncomfortable is the symbol/emblem that the OS uses. 
>  That is a "devil" !


This has been covered many times before, and you could search the archives 
for more in-depth answers than I'll give here.

The "devil" is supposed to be a daemon (not to be confused with the more 
modern term "demon"), a pun on on the fact that most server-programs in 
the unix world are called daemons. This is based on an old greek word 
which meant something close to "servant". Somewhere in history this came 
to mean "evil servant" or "devil" in some religions.

The FreeBSD use of the mascot is non-religious, however, and people 
generally doesn't think much about it. It is no more "evil" than the 
command "chmod 666 file" is.

However, there has been some concern about it, and from time to time 
someone are asking this question. Sometimes people state that they will 
not use FreeBSD unless the mascot is dropped. Espescially the use of the 
mascot in the boot-up screen has caused some controvercy.

There is an ongoing contest for a new FreeBSD logo, but alot of people in 
the FreeBSD community seem to like the little mascot, and are sceptical 
about a new logo. The contest submissions are not publically available, so 
I have no idea whether this attempt to replace the daemon will be 
successful. And even if FreeBSD would get a new logo, I'm sure alot of 
people would still use him as a mascot.

The creature's name is "Beastie" (BSD)

The image is copyrighted Marshall Kirk McKusick.



Regards, 
SVein Halvor