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The eccentric outsiders of open source: A look at Terry A. Davis and TempleOS

By

keyle

17d ago· 8 min readenInsight

Summary

This article examines Terry A. Davis and his TempleOS project, positioning it within the broader context of eccentric or "freak" open source projects. It discusses the technical merits and shortcomings of TempleOS, describes Davis's unique personality and tragic life story, and uses his case to explore the phenomenon of unconventional, obsessive, or outsider contributors in the open source community. The article reflects on how the open source world accommodates (or fails to accommodate) such unusual figures.

Source

Hacker NewsThe eccentric outsiders of open source: A look at Terry A. Davis and TempleOSdrewdevault.com

Key quotes

· 3 pulled
I would place TempleOS somewhere in, say, the lower middle-class of hobbyist operating systems.
The masterwork of Terry A. Davis is his eclectic operating system, TempleOS, which he worked on until his tragic death in 2018.
TempleOS is written in Terry's own bespoke dialect of C and includes an editor, interpreter, and compiler, as well as a number of original games.
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The masterwork of Terry A. Davis is his eclectic operating system, TempleOS, which he worked on until his tragic death in 2018. In terms of technical excellence, TempleOS rates well in some respects and poorly in others. For example, it earns the achievem

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