The circus freaks of open source

TempleOS, an operating system created by Terry A. Davis until his 2018 death, gained fame not for technical merit but because it was built around his untreated schizophrenia—designed to communicate with God. The article argues that media and fan attention voyeuristically exploited Davis's mental illness and enabled harmful behavior, ultimately exacerbating his condition. The piece draws a parallel to bcachefs developer Kent Overstreet, whose difficult behavior and refusal to cooperate with the Linux kernel community led to his work's removal and professional isolation.