diff --git a/creatur.cabal b/creatur.cabal
--- a/creatur.cabal
+++ b/creatur.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:              creatur
-Version:           5.6.9
+Version:           5.7.0
 Stability:         experimental
 Synopsis:          Framework for artificial life experiments.
 Description:       A software framework for automating experiments
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 source-repository this
   type:     git
   location: https://github.com/mhwombat/creatur.git
-  tag:      5.6.9
+  tag:      5.7.0
 
 library
   GHC-Options:      -Wall -fno-warn-orphans
diff --git a/src/ALife/Creatur/Daemon.hs b/src/ALife/Creatur/Daemon.hs
--- a/src/ALife/Creatur/Daemon.hs
+++ b/src/ALife/Creatur/Daemon.hs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 module ALife.Creatur.Daemon
   (
+    TaskConfig(..),
     Daemon(..),
     launch,
     requestShutdown
@@ -35,54 +36,64 @@
 termReceived :: MVar Bool
 termReceived = unsafePerformIO (newMVar False)
 
--- | Daemon configuration.
---   If @username@ is null, the daemon will run under the login name.
-data Daemon s = Daemon
+-- | Task configuration.
+data TaskConfig s = TaskConfig
   {
+    -- | Operations to perform on startup.
     onStartup :: s -> IO s,
+    -- | Operations to perform on shutdown.
     onShutdown :: s -> IO (),
+    -- | Operations to perform if an exception occurs.
     onException :: s -> SomeException -> IO s,
-    -- | The agent task.
-    task :: StateT s IO (),
-    username :: String,
-    -- | Number of microseconds to sleep between agent tasks.
+    -- | Operations to perform repeatedly while running.
+    run :: StateT s IO (),
+    -- | Number of microseconds to sleep between invocations of @'run'@.
     sleepTime :: Int
   }
 
--- | @'launch' daemon state@ creates a daemon running under the current
---   user's real userID, which invokes @task@.
-launch :: Daemon s -> s -> IO ()
+data Daemon p s = Daemon
+  {
+    daemon :: CreateDaemon p,
+    task :: TaskConfig s
+  }
+
+-- | @'launch' daemon state@ creates a daemon, which invokes @task@.
+--   *Note:* If @'user'@ (in @'daemon'@) is @Just ""@, the daemon will
+--   run under the login name. If @'user'@ is Nothing, the daemon will
+--   run under the name of the executable file containing the daemon. 
+launch :: Daemon p s -> s -> IO ()
 launch d s = do
   uid <- getRealUserID
   if uid /= 0
     then putStrLn "Must run as root"
     else do
-      u <- daemonUsername d
+      u <- defaultToLoginName (user . daemon $ d)
       serviced $ simpleDaemon 
         { program = daemonMain d s,
-          user    = Just u }
+          user    = u }
 
-daemonUsername :: Daemon s -> IO String
-daemonUsername d =
-  if (null . username) d
-    then getLoginName
-    else (return . username) d
-    
-daemonMain :: Daemon s -> s -> () -> IO ()
+defaultToLoginName :: Maybe String -> IO (Maybe String)
+defaultToLoginName (Just "") = fmap Just getLoginName
+defaultToLoginName x = return x
+
+daemonMain :: Daemon p s -> s -> () -> IO ()
 daemonMain d s _ = do
-  s' <- onStartup d s
-  _ <- installHandler sigTERM (Catch requestShutdown) (Just fullSignalSet)
+  s' <- handle ((onException . task $ d) s) ((onStartup . task $ d) s)
+  _ <- installHandler sigTERM (Catch requestShutdown)
+        (Just fullSignalSet)
   _ <- wrap (daemonMainLoop d s')
   return ()
 
-daemonMainLoop :: Daemon s -> s -> IO ()
+daemonMainLoop :: Daemon p s -> s -> IO ()
 daemonMainLoop d s = do
+  let st = sleepTime . task $ d
   stopRequested <- readMVar termReceived
   when (not stopRequested) $ do
-    s' <- handle (onException d s) $ execStateT (task d) s
-    when (sleepTime d > 0) $ threadDelay $ sleepTime d
+    s' <- handle ((onException . task $ d) s) $
+           execStateT (run . task $ d) s
+    when (st > 0) $ threadDelay st
     daemonMainLoop d s'
-  onShutdown d s
+  (onShutdown . task $ d) s
 
 wrap :: IO () -> IO ()
 wrap t = catch t
diff --git a/src/ALife/Creatur/Task.hs b/src/ALife/Creatur/Task.hs
--- a/src/ALife/Creatur/Task.hs
+++ b/src/ALife/Creatur/Task.hs
@@ -24,15 +24,14 @@
     withAgents,
     runNoninteractingAgents,
     runInteractingAgents,
-    simpleDaemon,
+    simpleTaskConfig,
     startupHandler,
     shutdownHandler,
-    exceptionHandler,
-    -- nothing,
-    requestShutdown
+    exceptionHandler
+    -- requestShutdown
  ) where
 
-import ALife.Creatur.Daemon (Daemon(..))
+import ALife.Creatur.Daemon (TaskConfig(..))
 import qualified ALife.Creatur.Daemon as D
 import ALife.Creatur.Universe (Universe, Agent, AgentProgram,
   AgentsProgram, writeToLog, lineup, refreshLineup, markDone, endOfRound,
@@ -44,14 +43,13 @@
 import Control.Monad.Trans.Class (lift)
 import Data.Serialize (Serialize)
 
-simpleDaemon :: Universe u => Daemon u
-simpleDaemon = Daemon
+simpleTaskConfig :: Universe u => TaskConfig u
+simpleTaskConfig = TaskConfig
   {
     onStartup = startupHandler,
     onShutdown = shutdownHandler,
     onException = exceptionHandler,
-    task = undefined,
-    username = "",
+    run = undefined,
     sleepTime = 100
   }