Date:	Mon, 27 Dec 1999 08:41:04 +0200 (IST)
From:	Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
X-Sender:	eliz AT is
To:	Kalum Somaratna aka Grendel <kalum AT newmail DOT net>
cc:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject:	Re: Why did ID choose DJGPP for Quake?
In-Reply-To:	<94622644001@out.newmail.net>
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On Sun, 26 Dec 1999, Kalum Somaratna aka Grendel wrote:

> Could anyone please tell me the reason's why ID, who earlier used 
> Watcom/DOS4GW for  DOOM etc switched to DJGPP. I know that 
> DJGPP is better than Watcom but were there any other reason's 
> (like financial - no royalties etc, better DPMI support etc) for 
> making there choice.

All of the above.

id Software initially wanted to make Quake extensible with C code, and
DJGPP was the only free protected-mode compiler (they eventually
switched to a scripting language, so this reason is not obvious
today).  And the DJGPP support simply blew Watcom out of the water,
even in those days, when Watcom was still in active development.

If you want more details, search the DJGPP mail archives for related
items.  This issue comes up from time to time, and people who have
first-hand knowledge (I'm not one of them) sometimes reply.

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