TempleOS, a story that shouldn't be forgotten
A few days ago while reading an article I end up by means of clicking on a random link to browsing YouTube. I stumbled over the creation of Terry Davis. That is TempleOS an operating system he built completely by himself! I wanted to know the end to end story of this man and his work so I educated myself and this is the summary of what I researched. I hope it will help others that end up having the same questions I had.
He was mentally ill and unfortunately was treated as many people today react to mentally ill people, mostly cruelly and mockingly while a few acts with understanding and kindness. The long story of what I learned.
He had begun live-streaming, where he would
. It's there that a concerted campaign to get Terry to alienate himself from his parents (with whom he lived) and stop taking his medication. This is not to mention how they egged on romantic feelings for a YouTube personality who they would later impersonate and
within awful ways.
All this led to Terry's parents being unable to house him. They were very old and the situation became impossible. Terry survived on the streets for some time, meeting up with (genuine and loving) fans along the way. Terry sadly was struck by a train.
If you want to learn more about Terry's life and death there are two videos that I found very enlightening;
- Fredrick Knudsen's video essay
- Parker Milum full rundown and easy to follow for fewer techies than me
Out of various comments that I read between forums and YouTube this one by Suave Atorestruck me as the most fitting.
It's almost like seeing an AI becoming self-aware. It's as if his true self still exists but is buried under random impulses, and he knows something's wrong, but he cannot properly make a diagnosis because of his impaired faculties. His story shouldn't have ended like this. He deserved more. Shine on you crazy diamond. You truly would've been the smartest programmer who ever lived.
Be kind, there's something to learn from anything and in particular from anyone. And if you let your status quo cloud you, then you deride others that look different slipping away from getting enriched and often for free.
RIP Terry
;mE
Comments
Post a Comment