5 ms·

I used to watch the TempleOS creators channel just because he was so wild. Constantly ranting about how god told him to build the OS and randomly exclaiming the

I used to watch the TempleOS creators channel just because he was so wild. Constantly ranting about how god told him to build the OS and randomly exclaiming the n-word or some racist statement. Living on some form of welfare I believe? What a story. Interesting to see someone continuing the code portion of his work.

sneak 5y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=TerryADavis https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=TerryADavis
- ziddoap 5y ago
  That was an absolutely wild ride. I must be missing some context though, I don't understand all of the "talking space alien" stuff (well, I don't understand any of it. But, the alien stuff seems pretty left-field, comparitively). >I made the third temple. I proved God scientifically once and for all. I am more famous than Jesus in the history of man. >I have a talking space alien. >I jhave authority to impose a temple tax on the world. >I have authority over INtel and Microsoft.
  - sneak 5y ago
    > I must be missing some context though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_A._Davis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_A._Davis > In 1996, he began experiencing regular manic episodes, one of which led him to hospitalization. Initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he was later declared to have schizophrenia. He died in 2018.
    - ziddoap 5y ago
      Fascinating and sad story. Reading that lead me to a Motherboard profile [1], which explained that pressing F7 on the keyboard served up a piece of 'tongues' text. Repeatedly pressing it generated sentences. And suddenly, all of the comments that he has on HN starting with "God says..." make sense (in a way). [1]https://www.vice.com/en/article/wnj43x/gods-lonely-programmer https://www.vice.com/en/article/wnj43x/gods-lonely-programme...
- nextaccountic 5y ago
  So, he was shadowbanned?
  - Rendello 5y ago
    Yes. (Shadowbanning is pretty common in HN I find, although the moderators say they will reach out to most users before they ban them.)
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  I just read through some comments. His OS doesn't use the GPU because God told him not to because its opaque and everything should be open to the user? Setting aside the speaking with God part, I think that's a pretty interesting opinion. I think I agree with it, but maybe the way it should be accomplished is by having more open GPU drivers?
  - Rendello 5y ago
    Part of this is that he tried to keep the TempleOS code simple, so he didn't implement things like USB or GPU code, and he eventually took out BMP support. He had a limit of lines of code he tried to keep things under.
Rendello 5y ago
(Context, the late creator of the original TempleOS, Terry Davis, was very schizophrenic.) This video is the definitive rundown on his life and illness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgoxQCf5Jg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgoxQCf5Jg Terry Davis, in life and online, was completely wild. What's interesting though is that when you play in TempleOS for a little while, it's easy to forget that. The OS is religious and super idiosyncratic, but that nasty, manic, hateful, attitude isn't there (with few exceptions). And the code and docs are damn good. I think Terry tried hard to keep the actual OS and documentation "pure", in a way. I think digging in and working on extremely complex C code was a regulating force that calmed him, in the exact opposite way that being jeered at online (especially by 4Chan and the like) upset him and made his condition worse.

sneak 5y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=TerryADavis https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=TerryADavis

ziddoap 5y ago
That was an absolutely wild ride. I must be missing some context though, I don't understand all of the "talking space alien" stuff (well, I don't understand any of it. But, the alien stuff seems pretty left-field, comparitively). >I made the third temple. I proved God scientifically once and for all. I am more famous than Jesus in the history of man. >I have a talking space alien. >I jhave authority to impose a temple tax on the world. >I have authority over INtel and Microsoft.
- sneak 5y ago
  > I must be missing some context though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_A._Davis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_A._Davis > In 1996, he began experiencing regular manic episodes, one of which led him to hospitalization. Initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he was later declared to have schizophrenia. He died in 2018.
  - ziddoap 5y ago
    Fascinating and sad story. Reading that lead me to a Motherboard profile [1], which explained that pressing F7 on the keyboard served up a piece of 'tongues' text. Repeatedly pressing it generated sentences. And suddenly, all of the comments that he has on HN starting with "God says..." make sense (in a way). [1]https://www.vice.com/en/article/wnj43x/gods-lonely-programmer https://www.vice.com/en/article/wnj43x/gods-lonely-programme...
nextaccountic 5y ago
So, he was shadowbanned?
- Rendello 5y ago
  Yes. (Shadowbanning is pretty common in HN I find, although the moderators say they will reach out to most users before they ban them.)
netizen-936824 5y ago
I just read through some comments. His OS doesn't use the GPU because God told him not to because its opaque and everything should be open to the user? Setting aside the speaking with God part, I think that's a pretty interesting opinion. I think I agree with it, but maybe the way it should be accomplished is by having more open GPU drivers?
- Rendello 5y ago
  Part of this is that he tried to keep the TempleOS code simple, so he didn't implement things like USB or GPU code, and he eventually took out BMP support. He had a limit of lines of code he tried to keep things under.

Rendello 5y ago

(Context, the late creator of the original TempleOS, Terry Davis, was very schizophrenic.) This video is the definitive rundown on his life and illness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgoxQCf5Jg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgoxQCf5Jg Terry Davis, in life and online, was completely wild. What's interesting though is that when you play in TempleOS for a little while, it's easy to forget that. The OS is religious and super idiosyncratic, but that nasty, manic, hateful, attitude isn't there (with few exceptions). And the code and docs are damn good. I think Terry tried hard to keep the actual OS and documentation "pure", in a way. I think digging in and working on extremely complex C code was a regulating force that calmed him, in the exact opposite way that being jeered at online (especially by 4Chan and the like) upset him and made his condition worse.