dhcpd - implements the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and the Internet Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP).
gated - routing daemon that handles multiple routing protocols and replaces routed and egpup.
gpm - useful mouse server for applications running on the Linux text console.
httpd - daemon for the Apache webserver.
inetd - listens for service requests on network connections, particularly dial-in services. This daemon can automatically load and unload other daemons (ftpd, telnetd, etc.), thereby economizing on system resources. Newer systems use xinetd instead.
isdn4linux - for users of ISDN cards.
kerneld - automatically loads and unloads kernel modules.
klogd - the daemon that intercepts and displays/logs the kernel messages depending on the priority level of the messages. The priority is (copied from /usr/include/linux/kernel.h ):
KERN_EMERG "<0>" system is unusable
KERN_ALERT "<1>" action must be taken immediately
KERN_CRIT "<2>" critical conditions
KERN_ERR "<3>" error conditions
KERN_WARNING "<4>" warning condition
KERN_NOTICE "<5>" normal but significant condition
KERN_INFO "<6>" informational
KERN_DEBUG "<7>" debug-level messages
The messages typically go to the appropriately named files in the directory /var/log/kernel.
kudzu - detects and configures new or changed hardware during boot.
keytable - loads selected keyboard map.
linuxconf - the linuxconf configuration tool. The automated part is run if you want linuxconf to perform various tasks at boot time to maintain the system configuration.
lpd - printing daemon.
mcserv - server program for the Midnight Commander networking file system. It provides access to the host file system to clients running the Midnight file system (currently, only the Midnight Commander file manager). If the program is run as root the program will try to get a reserved port otherwise it will use 9876 as the port. If the system has a portmapper running, then the port will be registered with the portmapper and thus clients will automatically connect to the right port. If the system does not have a portmapper, then a port should be manually specified with the -p option (see below).
named - the Internet Domain Name Server (DNS) daemon.
netfs - network filesystem mounter. Used for mounting nfs, smb and ncp shares on boot.
network -activates all network interfaces at boot time by calling scripts in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts .
nfsd - used for exporting nfs shares when requested by remote systems.
nfslock - starts and stops nfs file locking service.
numlock - locks numlock key at init runlevel change.
pcmcia - generic services for pcmcia cards in laptops.
portmap - needed for Remote Procedure Calls. Most likely, you need it for running network.
postfix - mail transport agent which is a replacement for sendmail. Now the default on desktop installations of Mandrake (RedHat uses sendmail instead).
random - saves and restores the "entropy" pool for higher quality random number generation.
routed - daemon that manages routing tables.
rstatd - kernel statistics server.
rusersd, rwalld - identification of users and "wall" messaging services for remote users.
rwhod - server which maintains the database used by the rwho(1) and ruptime(1) programs. Its operation depends on the ability to broadcast messages on a network.
sendmail - mail transfer agent. This is the agent that comes with Red Hat.
smbd - the SAMBA (or smb) daemon, a network connectivity services to MS Windows computers on your network (hard drive sharing, printers, etc).
squid - An http proxy with caching. Proxies relay requests from clients to the outside world, and return the results. You would use this particular proxy if you wanted to use your Linux computer as a gateway to the Internet for other
