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Somehow, I feel clear about definitions of daemon and server after learn a little bit about X11. So, I would like to have verification to my definitions as below.

Daemon is a process that is not associated with any terminal (has no controlling terminal).

Server is a process usually but not necessarily a daemon. Examples of daemon server are sshd and sftpd. Example of non-daemon server is X11. X11 has terminal associated with it, usually tty7.

Ron Vince
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1 Answers1

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The terms "daemon" and "server" can mostly be used interchangeably for any process that runs in the background and that provides a service.

A daemon, as you point out, is usually not associated with a TTY, but this goes for most servers too. Such a technical detail is minor since there is no definition that provides a clear distinction between the two terms that is applicable to the way the terms are used in everyday language.

Furthermore, a daemon acts like server when a client accesses its services (in the server-client paradigm). Again, the term "server" and "daemon" are interchangeable about the same entity.

The term "server" is also associated with a host (machine) that provides a service, such as a file server (which may be running an NFS daemon).

Kusalananda
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