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Re: Possible new name for "deity"



> > What about all us people who are bothered by having to make
> > everything "politically correct"?
> 
> There is a big difference between being PC and showing some basic
> sensitivity to others. I checked out the OED, and this is what
> I find for Deity.
> 
> de.ity
> ('d{e-}-*t-{e-})
> Etymology: ME i[deitee], fr. MF i[deit{e'}], fr. LL [italic
>    deitat-], i[deitas], fr. L i[deus] god; akin to OE [italic
>    T{i-}w], god of war, L i[divus] god, i[dies] day
> 1) a) n, the rank or essential nature of a god or a supreme being:
>       DIVINITY
>    i[cap]
>    b) n, SUPREME BEING, GOD
> 2) n, a god or goddess
> 3) n, one exalted or revered as supremely good or powerful
> 
> Basic respect for others who happen to be religious, including
> a lot of people among the Debian developers, should prevent us from
> using something that clearly means "God" as the name of a program.
> I am not religious myself, but I don't see a need to offend others
> unnecessarily.

  Hypertext Webster Gateway: "daemon"

  From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

  Demon \De"mon\, n. [F. d['e]mon, L. daemon a spirit, an evil spirit, fr.
  Gr. ? a divinity; of uncertain origin.] 1. (Gr. Antiq.) A spirit, or
  immaterial being, holding a middle place between men and deities in pagan
  mythology. 

  The demon kind is of an intermediate nature between the divine and the
  human.  --Sydenham. 

  2. One's genius; a tutelary spirit or internal voice; as, the demon of
  Socrates. [Often written d[ae]mon.] 

  3. An evil spirit; a devil. 

  That same demon that hath gulled thee thus. --Shak. 


Remove all daemons from debian (including all ".*d" programs, as they infer
the same thing) and then I'll agree that you really and truely want to
avoid anything that could offend a relious person.

                                          Brian
                                 ( bcwhite@verisim.com )

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