Terry A. Davis

"Terry Davis" redirects here. For other people named Terry Davis, see Terry Davis (disambiguation).
Terry A. Davis
Davis with a computer monitor, c. mid-1980s
Born
Terrence Andrew Davis

(1969-12-15)December 15, 1969
West Allis, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedAugust 11, 2018(2018-08-11) (aged 48)
The Dalles, Oregon, U.S.
EducationArizona State University (BS, MS)
Occupations
EmployerTicketmaster (1990–1996)
Known forTempleOS
Websitetempleos.org

Terrence Andrew Davis (December 15, 1969 – August 11, 2018), better known as Terry A. Davis, was an American electrical engineer and computer programmer best known for creating and designing TempleOS, an operating system in the public domain. Its development was an extremely complex, time-consuming, and unusual undertaking for one person.[1][2][3]

As a teenager, Davis learned assembly language on a Commodore 64. He later earned both a bachelor's degree in computer engineering and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State University. He worked for several years at Ticketmaster as a programmer for VAX machines. 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 subsequently collected disability payments and resided in Las Vegas with his parents until 2017.

Davis grew up as a Catholic and was an atheist for some of his adult life. After experiencing a self-described "revelation", he proclaimed that he had been in direct communication with God and that God had commanded him to build a successor to the Second Temple. He then committed a decade to creating an operating system modeled after the DOS-based interfaces of his youth. In 2013, Davis announced that he had completed the project, now called "TempleOS". The operating system was generally regarded as a hobby system, not suitable for general use,[4] but Davis received sympathy and support for bringing the project to fruition.[2]

During his final years, Davis amassed an online following and regularly posted video blogs to social media. Although he remained lucid when discussing computer-related subjects, his communication skills were significantly affected by his schizophrenia. He was controversial for his regular use of slurs, which he explained was his way of combating factors of psychological warfare. After 2017, he struggled with periods of homelessness and incarceration. In 2018, he was struck by a train and died at the age of 48.

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  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference derision was invoked but never defined (see the help page).