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2014-10-08T23:07:59Z

Created page with "{{DoomWiki}}A '''source port''' is a port of the source code for the Doom engine. The term usually denotes a modification m..."

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{{DoomWiki}}A '''source port''' is a [[Wikipedia:Porting|port]] of the [[Wikipedia:Source code|source code]] for the [[Doom engine]]. The term usually denotes a modification made by [[:Category:Community|fans]], as opposed to any of the [[Commercial games|officially licensed versions]] produced by [[id Software]] or affiliated companies.

The [[Doom source code]] was released to the public in 1997. Although Doom was originally created for [[Wikipedia:MS-DOS|DOS]], the release was of the [[Wikipedia:Linux|Linux]] version, and the source code had to be ported back to DOS and to other [[Wikipedia:Operating system|operating systems]]. Hence the term "source port", which out of custom also is used for those modifications which are not technically ports to another platform. The term itself originates from the first source port, [[DOSDoom]] and its 0.2 version.

Source ports have been created for a variety of PC operating systems, such as the [[Wikipedia:Microsoft Windows#32-bit operating systems|32-bit Windows family]], Linux and the [[Wikipedia:Berkeley Software Distribution|BSDs]]. By abstracting away the [[Wikipedia:X86 architecture|x86]]-specific code, ports have also been created for a large variety of other hardware platforms: [[Wikipedia:Power Macintosh|PowerPC]]/[[Wikipedia:Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]]; the [[Wikipedia:GP32|Game Park 32]], a Korean hand-held; the [[Wikipedia:Nokia|Nokia]] 7650 and 9210 [[Wikipedia:Mobile phone|cell phones]]; the [[Wikipedia:Sega Dreamcast|Sega Dreamcast]]; and any [[Wikipedia:POSIX|POSIX]] environment with the [[Wikipedia:X Window System|X windowing system]].

The original purpose of source ports was cross-platform compatibility, but shortly after the release of the source code, programmers were correcting old, unaddressed Doom [[Engine bug|bugs]] and deficiencies in their own source ports, and later began adding [[:Category:New features|new features]] to alter gameplay.

The source code was originally released under a proprietary [[license]] which prohibited commercial use and did not require programmers to provide the source code for the modifications they released in [[Wikipedia:executable|executable]] form. As a consequence of the source code for [[glDoom]], the first port to add [[Wikipedia:OpenGL|OpenGL]] graphics to Doom, being lost in a [[Wikipedia:Head crash|hard disk crash]], the code was re-released in 1999 under the [[Wikipedia:GPL|GNU General Public License]] after requests from the community (all of the original Doom source code on this [[wiki]] is covered by the GNU GPL).

As of today, the majority of Doom source ports are open source. The GNU GPL requires that authors who use GPL code in their software must release the modified source code as well.

Although the obligation does not apply to authors who used the previous non-GPL license, many authors voluntarily switched their projects to the GNU GPL.

Source port - Revision history

Corbin: Created page with "{{DoomWiki}}A '''source port''' is a port of the source code for the Doom engine. The term usually denotes a modification m..."