The following was extracted (and reformatted along with some minor changes to grammar) from the
main site: www.delorie.com/djgpp/doc/ug/
DJGPP is a freely available 32-bit development system, based on the GNU
development suite, that runs
on and produces programs for PC compatible computers with a 386 or higher processor and running
DOS or a DOS-compatible operating system or emulator.
DJGPP is freely available. Note that the intent here is that you can legally copy DJGPP from a friend, even if you don't pay a cent for
it, but it does not imply that you are entitled to a no-cost copy of DJGPP, or that you may not charge a fee
for it. Please note, however, that there are a few "official" ways of getting DJGPP, and these should
be checked to make sure you have the latest version if you get your copy from some other source
(BBS, friends, etc). DJGPP is also a "royalty free" system, in that you may (in most cases) sell programs
you write with any terms and conditions you want.
DJGPP is 32-bit. In order to use DJGPP, or run any program you write with DJGPP, you must have a 32-bit CPU in
your machine. This means a 386, 486, etc. You cannot use djgpp on a 286. However, all your programs
will use 32-bit integers, 32-bit pointers, and will no longer worry about running into the 64K or 640K barriers.
DJGPP is a development system. The purpose of DJGPP is to give you the ability to create new software, from scratch. Since you and
the computer don't speak the same language, what you type must somehow be converted into a language
the computer understands. This is what a development system does. DJGPP includes all the tools you
need to develop programs, including an editor (emacs), compiler (gcc), debugger (gdb), and the
runtime (libc).
DJGPP is based on the GNU development suite. Most of the core programs of DJGPP, like gcc, as, ld, and gdb, come from the GNU project, which is
creating set of freely redistributable Unix programs, some of which are a Unix development environment.
These programs have been ported to DJGPP and are used to form the core of its development tools.
For more information about the GNU project, see http://www.fsf.org/
Since DJGPP was built with itself, the set of machines that DJGPP runs on and
the set of machines
that DJGPP-built programs run on are the same set of machines.
PC compatible computers The target hardware for DJGPP programs is the PC platform.
With a 386 or higher You cannot use DJGPP on a 286, because that's not a 32-bit processor.
Running DOS Yes, I know Windows is "the wave of the future", but I don't like it, so I don't support it. DJGPP is for
making DOS programs, and if you can convince it to make a Windows program, good for you.
Or a DOS-compatible operating system DJGPP programs run under Windows' "dos prompt" boxes, OS/2's dos box, PC-DOS, MS-DOS,
NDOS, and other compatible operating systems.
Or emulator You can run DJGPP programs in Linux's DOS emulator or any other emulator that emulates a
386 and supports the DPMI interface.