The eccentric outsiders of open source: A look at Terry A. Davis and TempleOS
By
keyle
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.
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Key quotes
· 3 pulledI 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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