Photo: Terry A. Davis / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Terry A. Davis

テリー・デイヴィス　/　てりー・でいゔぃす

American programmer

December 15, 1969 – August 11, 2018　・　West Allis, Wisconsin, United States

Wisconsin
programmer
computer scientist
television producer

My Take

Terry Davis is one of the most haunting figures in computing history, and I find myself returning to his story more than almost any other programmer's. Building TempleOS alone — compiler, kernel, graphics, all of it — is a feat entire teams would struggle to match, and he did it while battling severe mental illness. What moves me is the purity of the obsession: he genuinely believed he was building a temple, and in a strange way he was. I cannot endorse everything he said, but as a monument to singular human capability, his work deserves respect rather than mockery.

Overview

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.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1. Profile

Name (English): Terry A. Davis
Name (Japanese): テリー・デイヴィス
Reading: てりー・でいゔぃす
Born: December 15, 1969 – August 11, 2018
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Sagittarius / Rooster
Origin: West Allis, Wisconsin, United States
Blood type: Private
Height: Private
Agency: Private
Occupation: programmer / computer scientist / television producer / vlogger / Internet celebrity

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Private
University: Arizona State University

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

5. Works & records

Category	Title	Role	Year
Notable work	TempleOS	—
Notable work	HolyC	—

6. Links

Xhttps://x.com/losethos
Wikipedia (Japanese)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry%20A.%20Davis

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