diff -up ./orbited/start.py.orig ./orbited/start.py
--- ./orbited/start.py.orig	2010-12-13 20:11:03.353946757 -0500
+++ ./orbited/start.py	2010-12-13 20:12:38.899526304 -0500
@@ -81,6 +81,14 @@ def main():
         default=False,
         help="run Orbited on port 8000 and MorbidQ on port 61613"
     )
+    parser.add_option(
+        "-d",
+        "--daemon",
+        dest="daemon",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="run Orbited as a daemon"
+    )
 
     (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
 
@@ -92,6 +100,13 @@ def main():
         print "Orbited version: %s" % (version,)
         sys.exit(0)
 
+    if options.daemon:
+        from daemon import DaemonContext
+        from daemon.pidlockfile import PIDLockFile
+        pidlock = PIDLockFile('/var/run/orbited/orbited.pid')
+        daemon = DaemonContext(pidfile=pidlock)
+        daemon.open()
+
     if options.quickstart:
         config.map['[listen]'].append('http://:8000')
         config.map['[listen]'].append('stomp://:61613')