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=                              TempleOS                              =
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                            Introduction
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TempleOS (formerly J Operating System, LoseThos, and SparrowOS) is a
biblical-themed lightweight operating system (OS) designed to be the
Third Temple prophesized in the Bible. It was created by American
programmer Terry A. Davis, who developed it alone over the course of a
decade after a series of manic episodes that he later described as a
revelation from God.

The system was characterized as a modern x86-64 Commodore 64, using an
interface similar to a mixture of DOS and Turbo C. Davis proclaimed
that the system's features, such as its 640x480 resolution, 16-color
display, and single-voice audio, were designed according to explicit
instructions from God. It was programmed with an original variation of
C/C++ (named HolyC) in place of BASIC, and included an original flight
simulator, compiler, and kernel.

First released in 2005 as J Operating System, TempleOS was renamed in
2013 and was last updated in 2017.


                             Background
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Programmer Terry A. Davis (1969-2018) began experiencing regular manic
episodes in 1996, leading him to numerous stays at mental hospitals.
Initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he was later declared
schizophrenic and remained unemployed for the rest of his life. He
suffered from delusions of space aliens and government agents that
left him briefly hospitalized for his mental health issues. After
experiencing a self-described "revelation", he proclaimed that he was
in direct communication with God, and that God told him the operating
system was for God's third temple.

Davis began developing TempleOS circa 2003. One of its early names was
the "J Operating System" before renaming it to "LoseThos", a reference
to a scene from the 1986 film 'Platoon'. In 2008, Davis wrote that
LoseThos was "primarily for making video games. It has no networking
or Internet support. As far as I'm concerned, that would be
reinventing the wheel". Another name he used was "SparrowOS" before
settling on "TempleOS". In mid-2013, his website announced: "God's
temple is finished. Now, God kills CIA until it spreads ."

Davis died after being hit by a train on August 11, 2018.


                          System overview
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TempleOS is a 64-bit, non-preemptive multi-tasking, multi-cored,
public domain, open source, ring-0-only, single address space,
non-networked, PC operating system for recreational programming. 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. Like most
modern operating systems, it has keyboard and mouse support. It
supports ISO 9660, FAT32 and RedSea file systems (the latter created
by Davis) with support for file compression. According to Davis, many
of these specifications--such as the 640x480 resolution, 16-color
display and single audio voice--were instructed to him by God. He
explained that the limited resolution was to make it easier for
children to draw illustrations for God.

The operating system includes an original flight simulator, compiler,
and kernel. One bundled program, "After Egypt", is a game in which the
player travels to a burning bush to use a "high-speed stopwatch". The
stopwatch is meant to act as an oracle that generates pseudo-random
text, something Davis likened to a Ouija board and glossolalia. An
example of generated text follows:



TempleOS was written in a programming language developed by Davis as a
middle ground between C and C++, originally called "C+" (C Plus),
later renamed to "Holy C", possibly a reference to the Holy See. Davis
ultimately wrote over 100,000 lines of code for the OS.


                               HolyC
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HolyC (formerly C+), named after a play on words of Holy See, is a
variant of the C and C++ programming Languages designed by Terry A.
Davis specifically for the TempleOS. It functions as both a
general-purpose language for application development and a scripting
language for automating tasks within TempleOS.


Design and features
=====================
HolyC is the just-in-time compiled language of TempleOS. It is an
imperative, statically typed programming language, although it uses
some object-oriented programming paradigms.


                         Critical reception
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TempleOS received mostly "sympathetic" reviews. Tech journalist David
Cassel opined that "programming websites tried to find the necessary
patience and understanding to accommodate Davis". TechRepublic and
OSNews published positive articles on Davis's work, even though Davis
was banned from the latter for hostile comments targeting its readers
and staff. In his review for TechRepublic, James Sanders concluded
that "TempleOS is a testament to the dedication and passion of one man
displaying his technological prowess. It doesn't need to be anything
more." OSNews editor Kroc Camen wrote that the OS "shows that
computing can still be a hobby; why is everybody so serious these
days? If I want to code an OS that uses interpretive dance as the
input method, I should be allowed to do so, companies like Apple be
damned." In 2017, the OS was shown as a part of an outsider art
exhibition in Bourgogne, France.


                               Legacy
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After Davis' death, OSNews editor Thom Holwerda wrote: "Davis was
clearly a gifted programmer - writing an entire operating system is no
small feat - and it was sad to see him affected by his mental
illness". One fan described Davis as a "programming legend", while
another, a computer engineer, compared the development of TempleOS to
a one-man-built skyscraper. He added that it "actually boggles my mind
that one man wrote all that" and that it was "hard for a layperson to
understand what a phenomenal achievement" it is to write an entire
operating system alone.

TempleOS is in the public domain. Davis' family has wished for fans to
donate to the National Alliance for Mental Illness and other
organizations "working to ease the pain and suffering caused by mental
illness".


                              See also
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* Creativity and mental health
* Biblical software
* Religion and video games


                           External links
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* Comprehensive archive of TempleOS and Terry A. Davis material
* [https://archive.org/details/TempleOS_Website_Archive  Archive of
the TempleOS website and operating system]
* [https://archive.org/details/TempleOS_ISO_Archive  Archive of the
TempleOS bootable ISO images]
* [https://github.com/cia-foundation/TempleOS TempleOS source code]


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