[PLUG] Analysis of obscure OS TempleOS

[Lynn Bradshaw via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

During one of the Jitsi meets we talked a little bit about Terry A.
Davis and TempleOS. I was reflecting on it all recently and here's a
video from a reviewer of operating systems and other software
analyzing TempleOS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ooWtNtKFcs

The creator is unfortunately deceased but there is a GitHub remaining
to help keep TempleOS alive:

https://github.com/cia-foundation/TempleOS

The biographical details of the late creator Terry A. Davis and his
creation are inseparable but the video focuses mostly on the latter.
Biographical details about Terry are worth looking into but it's worth
noting that he was very troubled and a lot of his language was
disorganized and, for many, offensive. It's NSFW material.

Having said that, TempleOS is something else. If you can imagine
something like GEOS for Commodore 64 except turbocharged for modern
processors and practices, you'd be about on the mark. It's a 64-bit
operating system that looks like a 16-bit one. Single-handedly, he
wrote the kernel, "HolyC" compiler, windowing system, utilities, games
even and it all fits within a few megabytes. HolyC, in what might be a
slightly altered form, serves as the language of the operating system
shell and it's also possible to do inline assembly seamlessly. JIT
compilation too. (Terry was once a systems programmer for VAX
machines.) Reviewer says: "the barrier between you and the system is
very thin". (Everything runs in ring 0.) Fascinating stuff.
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