Doom Source Now Under GPL

Scipius wrote to us with the news that Game OverLaird John Carmack has re-licensed the Doom source code under the GPL. Things like this make my heart beat with joy.

Comments

Those id guys swear a lot

[Wee]

So I got the source code and I'm looking through it. Then I get an idea...

[wrhodes@dt032nc0 linuxdoom-1.10]$ cat ./*.c | grep fuck | wc -l; cat ./*.c | grep fuck
19
static fuck = 0;
fprintf(stderr, "fuck %d \r", fuck++);
"fuck you, pussy!\nget the fuck out!",
"hey, ron! can we say\n'fuck' in the game?",
"suck it down, asshole!\nyou're a fucking wimp!",
boolean message_dontfuckwithme;
static boolean message_nottobefuckedwith;
message_dontfuckwithme = false;
message_nottobefuckedwith = false;
message_nottobefuckedwith = false;
if (showMessages || message_dontfuckwithme)
if ((plr->message && !message_nottobefuckedwith)
|| (plr->message && message_dontfuckwithme))
message_nottobefuckedwith = message_dontfuckwithme;
message_dontfuckwithme = 0;
message_nottobefuckedwith = true;
extern boolean message_dontfuckwithme;
message_dontfuckwithme = true;
// 'fa' cheat for killer fucking arsenal

[wrhodes@dt032nc0 linuxdoom-1.10]$ cat ./*.c | grep shit | wc -l; cat ./*.c | grep shit
5
wipe_shittyColMajorXform
wipe_shittyColMajorXform((short*)wipe_scr_start, width/2, height);
wipe_shittyColMajorXform((short*)wipe_scr_end, width/2, height);
// Really complex printing shit...
// Massive bunches of cheat shit

Of course, that doesn't compare too well with the Linux source, but pound for pound plenty of prurient pontification.

(BTW, have any of you tried to enter source code in a /. post before? It's ironic that it can't really be done -- all the indentation gets stripped. Someone tell CmdrTaco that he needs to allow tags in HTML posts.)

-B

previous license

[Trepidity]

There seems to be some confusion about the previous license of the Doom source. Based on my reading of the license (IANAL, however), you were allowed to use portions of the source in your own programs (which you could do anything with, including sell, and were not required to make the source code to them available). This is referred to as "Educational Use" in the license. However, the license also specifically prohibited you from redistributing the original source code. It seems like somewhat of a judgement call how much source code constitutes using it in your own work (which you can do whatever you want with, BSD-style), and how much constitutes a derivative of the original Doom source (which is "all rights reserved").

This presents an interesting situtation now. Although it has been re-licensed under the GPL, I have a copy of the source code under the old license, and they can't rescind this license. Therefore, I could take some functions from it, and use them in my own closed-source program (which the license allows), thereby effectively bypassing the requirements of the GPL.

Carmack and Open Source

[Unknwn]

John Carmack seems to be doing a _lot_ for the open source community these days. First was the initial release of the Doom source, although it wasn't under an open license, it was still damned cool for the time. Now, he's helping with the GLX project for the Matrox cards (and supposedly doing what he does best, wild and crazy optimizations :) and today releases Doom under the GPL.

Three cheers for Mr Carmack!

--
Jeremy Katz

Doom Source Code

[Lando]

The Doom source code has been available for some time. Looking through the comments, I noticed a lot of people saying that "hey this is cool now I can see the code" The truth of the matter is that the code was released 3 years ago or so, can't remember off the top of my head. There was some work that had to be pulled from the original source because id licensed a third party for the sound engine, but the functionality was there.

The part that is not generally available are the maps from the game itself. The engine is available, but you have to download and put together your own information. With the proliferation of doom and quake sites this is not a problem.

John's original intent was to release the source code for each game engine a year after the game was released or when the next game engine was released. Doom and DoomII use the same engine, more or less and when quake was released John released the Doom code, actually a bit later since they had to have someone go in and clean out the third party software and clean up part of the code.

And now for some URL's

PlanetQuake probably the formost user site online for quake and doom related material. Any player of these games should not miss this site.

Quake 2 coding list.

id Softare id software's main website

id's source code archive

planetquake's finger information Latest .plan files from the gaming industries top game designers.

Where to find the Doom source

Cdrom and more files, look for various id titles

Lando