noun
daemon
DEE-mun/ˈdiːmən/
A computer program that runs in the background to provide a service.
The backup daemon works behind the main document window.
Etymology
The computing name alludes to a spirit working unobtrusively, with Maxwell’s demon a known influence. It suits a program that performs useful tasks behind the foreground activity.
In context
the RTP engine I understand is a user space daemon that also does transcoding and also talks to an in kernel module
More examples
- A logging daemon collected the messages.
- She restarted the daemon after changing its configuration.
- The server uses a daemon to handle print requests.
Forms
daemon · daemons
Similar words
- service
- Service is a common software equivalent; daemon particularly names a background process in Unix-like systems.
- application
- An application often has direct user interaction; a daemon provides a continuing background function.