OBIT Dr Timothy James King: From TRIPOS to AmigaDOS
Dr. Timothy James King, the programmer who transformed the 68000 version of TRIPOS into AmigaDOS, passed away at the age of 70. Reports from AmigaNews indicate he departed in July. King was a genius with coding, but his contributions extended beyond mere binary manipulation. His expertise was a crucial component of the original operating system for the Commodore Amiga. His rapid adaptation of Cambridge University’s TRIPOS OS for the Motorola 68000 CPU evolved into AmigaDOS, which enabled Commodore to launch the machine in 1985 after their in-house OS initiative faltered. In his words: “As a result, I have the distinction of having written software used by over 2 million users.” Cheers to you, Tim.
The Journey from TRIPOS to Amiga
TRIPOS isn’t widely recognized today, but its Wikipedia page offers a solid overview. King didn’t create TRIPOS by himself—it was designed by Cambridge intellectual Dr. Martin Richards. TRIPOS was developed using the BCPL language, which was also an invention of Richards. The inaugural “hello, world” was created in BCPL, which also generated code for the Xerox Alto. Today, it’s chiefly acknowledged as a precursor to the C language. For an interesting discussion on TRIPOS, take a look at this page of scans from Aussie Personal Computer magazine.
King’s Path from Researcher to Innovator
During his time at the University of Bath, King transferred TRIPOS from the DEC PDP-11 to the then-new Motorola 68000 CPU. He subsequently became part of Bristol’s MetaComCo, a specialist in 68000 development tools. For them, he modified his new 68K version of TRIPOS for the SAGE IV machines utilized by MetaComCo. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Commodore was assembling the Amiga, but their internal OS project, called CAOS, was a complete failure. Commodore sought external help and turned to MetaComCo. King not only adapted TRIPOS for the prototype Amiga hardware but also integrated the BCPL-based components with Carl Sassenrath’s existing Amiga Exec kernel and the Intuition windowing system.
Legacy and Beyond AmigaDOS
King’s contributions left a lasting imprint on the AmigaDOS command line, filesystem, and command framework, as evidenced by the manuals for TRIPOS and AmigaDOS. In a 2022 interview, he acknowledged “Exec,” commending its message-passing architecture that aligned well with TRIPOS. Reflecting on CAOS’s history, Amiga’s “Wizard Extraordinaire” Andy Finkel noted: “What we now refer to as AmigaDOS was essentially the backup DOS, based on an already existing OS known as Tripos (developed at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory by the TRIPOS Research Group, and converted with astonishing speed by Metacomco’s Dr. Tim King and his team of programmers).” The BCPL code underwent a C rewrite for AmigaOS 2, but King had already departed for new opportunities.
The Later Years: Helios and Beyond
He became part of Perihelion, a startup initiated by the late Jack Lang, who would later co-found the Raspberry Pi Foundation alongside Eben Upton. With Upton’s PhD supervisor being the same Martin Richards, the connections were evident. At Perihelion, King explored parallel processing systems, particularly the Transputer from INMOS, thanks to David May. INMOS sought Transputer software authored in its Occam programming language, based on the Communicating Sequential Processes model devised by Professor Tony Hoare. This was somewhat alien for those accustomed to Unix and C, prompting King to draw from TRIPOS to develop Helios, a Unix-like OS for multiple INMOS Transputer machines. Helios-NG continues to exist as open source: we highlighted it back in 2021, revisiting some of its history.
ISP Pioneer to Technical Consultant
The Transputer and Helios never quite gained mainstream success, leading King to pivot. Recognizing the internet’s commercial expansion, he established UK Online in 1994, one of the early British ISPs. He sold it to Easynet in ’96, and it continued operating until Sky shut it down in 2011. King later referred to himself as a “technical consultant,” first with the large CSC, and then through TJJ Ltd, the consulting business he operated with his wife and partner, Jessica. Heartfelt tributes can be found across Amiga communities online, including platforms like Reddit /r/amiga and Hacker News, accompanied by stories from former colleagues.
Summary: Farewell to a Legend—He Rebooted Our World, Then Logged Off
Tim King’s programming prowess bestowed us AmigaDOS, a contribution to over 2 million users, leaving a legacy that resonates through the years. With a story woven from TRIPOS to Amiga, and later projects like Helios and UK Online, he was a genuine tech pioneer. Raise a glass and honor the man who never minced his words or bits.
