TempleOS
Hacker ApprovedRanked 19 of 87 operating systems by recommenders
Recommended as a striking one-man operating system that is interesting to explore and study, though critics say it lacks networking and USB and would not rely on it.
Recommended as a striking one-man operating system that is interesting to explore and study, though critics say it lacks networking and USB and would not rely on it.
32 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 28
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 28 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
One-man engineering achievement
“it is a serious accomplishment to get a working operating system off the ground”
Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “The circus freaks of open source” “TempleOS generally tends to be considered a marvel of one-man engineering”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: HART OS – an open-source AI OS built so frontier AI needs no datacenter” “He was out to prove something, and, largely, he did.”
Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “The circus freaks of open source” - Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Ratty – A terminal emulator with inline 3D graphics”
Interesting to explore and study
“This, ReactOS, and TempleOS have been my answer to the question of: "what should I install if I'm looking for something interesting?"”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Half-Life 2 running natively on HaikuOS” “one of the better write ups on TempleOS as a piece of technology to evaluate on its own merits”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Terry A. Davis Quotes” “You might also like TempleOS, or at least the context and history behind it.”
Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “Why the Legendary Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI” - Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “Why the Legendary Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI”
Seen as a masterpiece, fun to use
“TempleOS is a lot of fun but the community around it is very 4chan/kiwifarms”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Snow Simulation Toy” “the whole thing was both an exercise in madness and genius”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Ratty – A terminal emulator with inline 3D graphics” “TempleOS blows my mind, honestly.”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2” - Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2”
- Comment from 20 Dec 2025 in “I wrote a code editor in C and now I'm a changed man”
Neat unusual ideas and features
“some pretty nifty features for directly interspersing sprites into source code”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Mixing Visual and Textual Code” “the sick 3D icons TempleOS had in its terminal”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Ratty – A terminal emulator with inline 3D graphics” “it had some really neat ideas”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Ratty – A terminal emulator with inline 3D graphics”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Lacks networking and USB
“Sounds like TempleOS checks all those boxes. You might miss networking though.”
Comment from 29 May 2026 in “It Will Never Be the Year of the Linux Desktop” “But only in 640*480, without networking or usb”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Ratty – A terminal emulator with inline 3D graphics” Community and religious content concerns
“TempleOS is a lot of fun but the community around it is very 4chan/kiwifarms”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Snow Simulation Toy” “who also filled TempleOS will religious nonsense”
Comment from 20 Dec 2025 in “I wrote a code editor in C and now I'm a changed man” Not recommended for daily reliance
“Would you run and rely on TempleOS?”
Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “Measuring Input Latency on Linux: X11 vs. Wayland, VRR, and DXVK” “I wouldn't recommend TempleOS.”
Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “Apple has locked my Apple ID, and I have no recourse. A plea for help”
Other operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 87 operating systems, rankedWhat people said
28 of the 34 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The thing I used most was the collapsible sections”
“one of the better write ups on TempleOS as a piece of technology to evaluate on its own merits”
“TempleOS blows my mind, honestly.”
“the most perfect OS of all times”
“or at least the context and history behind it”
“You might also like TempleOS, or at least the context and history behind it.”
“TempleOS generally tends to be considered a marvel of one-man engineering”
“This, ReactOS, and TempleOS have been my answer to the question of: "what should I install if I'm looking for something interesting?"”
“Would you run and rely on TempleOS?”
“some pretty nifty features for directly interspersing sprites into source code”
“Very neat things from Terry Davis”
“Finally TempleOS has a companion”
“it is a serious accomplishment to get a working operating system off the ground”
“He was out to prove something, and, largely, he did.”
“as a programmer having my code being used long after I am gone would be a great honor”
“Sounds like TempleOS checks all those boxes. You might miss networking though.”
“all shall know the power of Holy-C”
“But only in 640*480, without networking or usb”
“TempleOS, however, works.”
“it certainly is impressive for a single guy's work”
“the sick 3D icons TempleOS had in its terminal”
“it had some really neat ideas”
“the whole thing was both an exercise in madness and genius”
“It is just software. TempleOS and this project just looks cool.”
“TempleOS is a lot of fun but the community around it is very 4chan/kiwifarms”
“templeOS is a masterpiece”
“who also filled TempleOS will religious nonsense”
“I wouldn't recommend TempleOS.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.