To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 20:16:31 -0500
Subject: Re: Why did ID choose DJGPP for Quake?
Message-ID: <20000112.202400.-395655.0.roberts.j.whitlock@juno.com>
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From: Robert S Whitlock <roberts DOT j DOT whitlock AT juno DOT com>
Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com

> > 386 PCs? No. Their BIOSes probably have the century bug.
> 
> I have heard that 386 is still used in (and produced for) embedded
> systems.
> 
> I have no real example, but I know from my own experience that 
> military
> and medical equipment often uses "old" processors because they 
> perform
> in a reliable way (since all bugs are known).
> 
> Can someone confirm this?

I have a 286 that I use once every couple months, and its clock battery
once wore out and started giving wrong times, so I needed to replace it.
So, I replaced it, and then set the correct time on the computer at
startup. Well, I don't know what was up with the battery, but apparently
it gave out extra voltage or something during the first part of its
lifetime, and it tripped over the year 2000. It worked just fine. But
then again, I don't use it for anything practically except for
command.com and disk copies. But eventually, it settled down and the
clock is now ticking correctly. Strange, eh?


--Robert Whitlock
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/9520/
ICQ 60123256