Origin of 'Daemon' in Computing

Page usability & nostalgia

• Several commenters found the original site nearly unreadable; some reported Safari’s reader view failing, while others said it worked or used Firefox or mirrors.
• The ugly page design triggered nostalgic remarks about the “old internet.”

Maxwell’s demon, thermodynamics & information

• Multiple comments dig into the article’s claim that quantum mechanics “showed why it wouldn’t work.”
• Several argue the standard refutation is information-theoretic: measurement and erasing information increase entropy, preserving the second law.
• Some briefly discuss whether quantum uncertainty (position/velocity limits) could hinder the demon; others counter that for air molecules classical physics suffices and quantum effects are negligible here.
• There is side discussion about entropy as information vs disorder, Bayesian formulations of thermodynamics, and whether “classical thermodynamics” is even coherent. Linked papers are mentioned but their success is left as unclear.

Etymology and meaning of “daemon”

• The Project MAC / Maxwell’s demon origin is broadly accepted but some note the evidence chain is partly circular: the article cites an earlier writeup, and vice versa; first-hand recollections decades later may be incomplete.
• Another Project MAC participant is reported as independently confirming the Maxwell’s demon link.
• One brief note cites an Indo-European root meaning “divider, provider,” jokingly tied to “divide power, compute.”
• Some stress the classical sense of “daimon” as a neutral/working spirit rather than an evil “demon,” and suggest alternatives like “eudaemon.”

Pronunciation debates

• Ongoing debate over “daemon” pronounced like “demon” vs “DAY-mon.” Some deliberately distinguish them to keep the classical/computing sense separate from the religious one.
• Extended side-thread on pronouncing /usr/lib, /usr/bin, /var, “etc,” and on the vowel “æ” in words like “encyclopaedia” and “aesthetic,” with British vs American differences noted.

Unix culture & dark humor

• Commenters enjoy the darkly comic semantics of Unix: daemons, zombies, orphans, killing children, and suggestive command sequences.
• Anecdotes include non-technical people being horrified by literal-sounding process-control talk, and jokey references to “trapping demons in silicon.”

Language & borrowing (a la mode / au jus)

• A side discussion analyzes how French phrases like “a la mode” and “au jus” have been re-borrowed into English with new grammatical roles and meanings, frustrating prescriptivist attitudes.
• Some argue usage has drifted enough that original French syntax is no longer relevant.