I have encountered many different ways to turn a Java program into a Windows Service or a *nix daemon, such as Java Service Wrapper, Apache Commons Daemon, and so on. Barring licensing concerns (such as JSW's GPL or pay dual-license), and more advanced features, which one would you recommend? All I intend to do is convert a simple Java program into a service; I don't need anything fancy, just something that runs as a service or a daemon, so I can start it or stop it in the service manager, or it runs for the lifetime of my *nix uptime. EDIT: I've decided to make this community wiki. I didn't start this question with an intention to find an answer for a problem I really had. I was just doing some reading and researching and chanced upon this question, so I was looking for recommendations and the like. Sorry for not doing this sooner or doing this at first. I didn't know what community wiki was for when I first started, and I completely forgot about this question until now. Many thanks for the answers!