That helper connotation is why the word daemon was used for background processes on unix systems. Perhaps the archaic spelling was chosen to avoid demon's evil connotations.
Interestingly, in Hungarian terminology, the system daemons get renamed to szolgáltatás (service) or varázsló (wizard) instead. The term daemon itself is not used.
Well that's because Hungarians are extra terrestrials, at least according to Leo Szilard. Von Neumann would probably agree.
