Terry A. Davis

Terrence Andrew Davis (December 15, 1969 – August 11, 2018) was an American electrical engineer, computer programmer, and outsider artist best known for creating and designing TempleOS, a public-domain operating system, written in a programming language developed by Davis called HolyC. He believed God had commanded him to create TempleOS as the Third Temple prophesied in the Bible. In 1996, Davis began experiencing regular manic episodes, some of which led to hospitalization. Initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he was later declared to have schizophrenia. Eight months before his death, he struggled with periods of homelessness. His fans brought him supplies, but Davis refused their offers of housing. For several years he worked at Ticketmaster on VAX machines.

Onset of mental illness alt=A middle-aged Davis, with short-black hair, in a dress shirt, looks at the camera. In the background, a dresser and a mirror are displayed. Davis became an atheist and described himself as a scientific materialist until experiencing what he called a "revelation from God". Starting in March 1996, Davis was admitted to a psychiatric ward around every six months for recurring manic episodes. He also developed beliefs centering around space aliens and government agents. According to Davis, he attributed a profound quality to the Rage Against the Machine lyric "some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses" and recalled "I started seeing people following me around in suits and stuff. It just seemed something was strange."

After 2003, Davis's hospitalizations became less frequent. HolyC was conceived of by Davis in the early 2000s He envisioned the system as a Commodore 64 with greater processing speed.

Davis proclaimed later in TempleOS's development that he was in direct communication with God, who told him to build a successor to the Second Temple as an operating system. The charter on his website stated that TempleOS was God's official temple and a place where offerings are made and God's oracle could be consulted, like Solomon's Temple. He used the oracle to ask God about war ("servicemen competing"), death ("awful"), dinosaurs ("Brontosaurs' feet hurt when stepped"), favorite video game (Donkey Kong), favorite car (BMW), favorite national anthem (Latvia's), favorite band (the Beatles), and the 11th commandment ("Thou shall not litter").

Regarding the philosophy of the built‑in games in the system—their simplicity—Davis said: "If you have something high-quality, it intimidates the locals, and so—like in TempleOS—I don't want high-quality games because it intimidates people." He explained that he wanted people to look at his creation and see it as something that ordinary "mortals" could reproduce themselves, encouraging them to try creating something similar.

Davis stated that the operating system was downloaded 10,000 times between 2009 and 2012. Later that year, he renamed the operating system to "SparrowOS", then to "TempleOS" the following year. A few weeks later, his website announced: "God's temple is finished. Now, God kills CIA until it spreads".

Recognition, criticism, and following

What people are going to read is, "It's about a pathetic schizophrenic who made a crappy operating system." My perspective is, "God said I made His temple." — Davis in regard to an article about his life, from an email to a Vice journalist. One fan described him as a "programming legend", while another, a computer engineer, compared the development of TempleOS to a skyscraper built by one person. Psychologist Victoria Tischler doubted that Davis's intentions were violent or discriminatory, but "some of these antisocial behaviors became apparent" through his mental illness, which is "something really common to people with severe mental health problems."

Such outbursts, along with the operating system's "amateurish" presentation, ultimately caused TempleOS to become a frequent object of derision. Davis addressed concerns about his language on his website, stating that "when I fight Satan, I use the sharpest knives I can find".

Death

During his final two months, Davis struggled with periods of homelessness and incarceration. He stopped taking medication because he believed that it limited his creativity. Some fans helped him by bringing him supplies, but he refused their housing offers. After living with his sister in Arizona, Davis traveled to California, and in April 2018, he stopped in Portland, Oregon. Police in the city of The Dalles, approximately east of Portland, were informed by locals about Davis. No further complaints were received about Davis.

In his final video, recorded on a bench at The Dalles Wasco County Library, and uploaded hours before his death, he explained that he had removed most of his videos because he did not wish to "litter" the Internet, and that he had learned how to "purify" himself. At the very end, he states: "It's good to be king. Wait, maybe. I think maybe I'm just like a little bizarre little person who walks back and forth. Whatever, you know, but..." When The Dalles Chronicle ran a story about an unnamed homeless man who was struck by a train, the newspaper was inundated with phone calls inquiring whether it was Davis, which the paper later confirmed in a follow-up piece. In November 2019, Davis was the subject of a 30-minute documentary on BBC Radio 4.