TempleOS
TempleOS (formerly J Operating System,[1] SparrowOS and LoseThos)[2] is a biblical-themed lightweight operating system created by the American programmer Terry A. Davis (December 15, 1969 – August 11, 2018).[3] He developed the system alone over the course of 10 years. It was designed to be the Third Temple, according to Davis, and uses an interface similar to a mixture of DOS and Turbo C. Davis described the operating system as a modern x86-64 Commodore 64 with a variation of C (named HolyC) in place of BASIC.[1]
 | |
 TempleOS 4.05 | |
| Developer | Terry A. Davis |
|---|---|
| Written in | HolyC |
| Working state | Active development |
| Source model | Open source (Public Domain) |
| Initial release | 2013 |
| Latest release | 5.03 / 14 March 2017 |
| Platforms | x86-64 |
| Kernel type | Monolithic |
| Official website |
www |
Contents
OverviewEdit
TempleOS is a x86-64 bit, non-preemptive multi-tasking,[4] multi-cored, public domain, open source, ring-0-only, single address space, non-networked, PC operating system for recreational programming.[5] The OS runs 8-bit ASCII with graphics in source code and has a 2D and 3D graphics library, which run at 640x480 VGA with 16 colors.[2] Like most modern operating systems, it has keyboard and mouse support. It supports the FAT32 and RedSea file systems (the latter created by Davis) with support for file compression.[6]
Its development began in 2003, after Davis suffered from a series of manic episodes that left him briefly hospitalized for mental health issues.[1][7] Diagnosed as schizophrenic, Davis was a former atheist who proclaimed that he had "communications" with God, and that God told him the operating system he built was for God's third temple. According to Davis, TempleOS is of "divine" intellect due to the inspired nature of the code, and that God said to create the operating system with 640x480, 16 colors display and a single audio voice. He acknowledged, "It looks a lot like mental illness, as opposed to some glorious revelation from God. ... I felt guilty for being such a technology-advocate atheist ... It would sound polite if you said I scared myself thinking about quantum computers."[1]
The operating system was written in a programming language developed by Davis in C and C++, called "HolyC".[2] HolyC is a variation of C, developed by Davis as the programming language of TempleOS. It is used to interact with the shell, and to write and execute entire applications from the shell. The IDE that comes with TempleOS supports several features, such as embedding images in code. It uses a non-standard text format (known as DolDoc) which has support for hypertext links, images and 3D meshes to be embedded into what are otherwise regular ASCII files. A file can have, for example, a spinning 3D model of a tank as a comment in source code. Code can be compiled JIT.[8]
Terry A. DavisEdit
Terrence Andrew Davis, the sole developer of TempleOS, was born in Wisconsin. Davis earned a masters degree in electric engineering from the University of Arizona in 1994 and worked briefly at TicketMaster as an OS programmer. He began experiencing regular manic episodes in 1996, leading him to several stays at mental hospitals, and was initially diagnosed as bipolar. Afterward, he was unable to work, and collected Social Security disability for the remainder of his life. Most of his time was spent "coding, web surfing, or using the output from the National Institute of Standards and Technology randomness beacon to talk to God".[1]
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c d e Hicks, Jesse (November 25, 2014). "God's Lonely Programmer". VICE Motherboard. Retrieved 2015-04-21.
- ^ a b c Sanders, James (January 21, 2014). "TempleOS: an educational tool for programming experiments". TechRepublic. Retrieved 2015-04-21.
- ^ "TempleOS". templeos.com. September 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
Terry A. Davis (1969 - 2018). Rest in peace!
- ^ Davis, Terry A. (n.d.). "Scheduler". The TempleOS Source Code. Archived from the original on 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ Mathieu, Bruno (November 28, 2014). "TempleOS : le système d'exploitation qui parle à Dieu" [TempleOs: The operating system that talks to God]. Tom's Guide (in French). Retrieved 2015-04-21.
- ^ Davis, Terry A. (n.d.). "The Temple Operating System". www.templeos.org. Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
- ^ Bruet-Ferréol, Quentin (May 13, 2014). "Temple OS, un système d'exploitation pour parler à Dieu codé par un fou génial". Slate.fr (in French). Retrieved 2015-04-21.
- ^ Mitton, Richard (June 8, 2015). "A Constructive Look At TempleOS". www.codersnotes.com. Retrieved 2017-03-30.