Something I don't understand about FreeBSD is why they use the evil daemon for the logo?
Whatever story behind it, I just think there are many other alternatives they could use as the logo.
Also described as neutral forces of nature, and in other ways. Not always as persons, often as if they were mechanical.
Even if one doesn't believe in the Devil, surely it seems in poor taste to use as a mascot a mythological creature who is reputed to be the source of every single evil, cruel, horrible thing in all of history. It's almost as bad as naming a piece of encryption software 'felony.'
Well ... what about Pan and Dionysus ? What about all other cultures in which there is no Devil representation that has a tail and horns ? History is long and the world is more diverse than you seem to realize.
> the source of every single evil, cruel, horrible thing
and used Pan and Dionysus as a counter-example.
If you're saying 'well, Pan and Dionysus both have horns like the bsd mascot' I don't find that compelling either because the identifying characteristics don't line up (different types of horns, the tail, the pitchfork, and so on).
Oh, and quite a lot of math and science dates back to Christian and Muslim scholars, so your last sentence is perhaps dismissive of the general intellect of religious folk. As someone rather appreciative of the work of Isaac Newton, Blaise Pascal, Gregor Mendel, a variety of ancient Muslim scholars, and many more, I'm glad they didn't stick to reading fiction.
¹ Who I don't generally group with Christians (the religions, while superficially similar, are pretty different), but I don't have anything against them and I would not consider them “evil”, or at least not more evil than humanity at large.
FTFY.
Also, please don't create many obscure throwaway accounts on HN. This forum is a community. Anonymity is fine, but users should have some consistent identity that other users can relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames and no community at all, and that would be an entirely different forum.
Expressions like “speed demon” don't bother me either. The general concept of a demon is somewhat different from a fallen angel; I don't have trouble with demons being painted in a neutral/jokingly positive light, unless the demon obviously refers to the devil or affiliates (in which case “woo the devil is awesome!” makes me moderately uncomfortable).
¹ Odds are I could even get labelled as a backwards religious fundamentalist.