🎉 Celebrating 25 Years of GameDev.net! 🎉
Not many can claim 25 years on the Internet! Join us in celebrating this milestone. Learn more about our history, and thank you for being a part of our community!
What IS the story with OpenGL?
Author
First a little background:I speak from a newbie perspective. I discovered Nehe''s fine site a few days ago and have been tearing into the tutorials.Everything works straight off. You paste his code into VC++, link some libraries as he sez, and you''re away, merrily changing things and seeing what happens. Great fun.
But once I wish to move beyond, things start getting tough. Is politics to blame here. First stop the OpenGL.org site. After downloading their demos and sample code, noting works.
It appears GLUT is required. But it does not seem to be available.
One discovers that there are 2 versions of OpenGL. Microsofts one and the SGI one. But the SGI one is no longer available, only a link to the MS download ftp for their version. However, the Tutorials on OpenGL don''t work with the MS Glut.
I wish to do some mirror stuff, but in the absence of a Nehe tut, the Tim Hall mirror post seems unworkable - for a newbie.
I''ll get to my point *whew*. Is OpenGl sandwiched between Microsoft and SGI, but Microsoft has won and SGI has conceded, but SGI is sulking and won''t let go?
I ask this out of genuine interest. Does anyone know the history or facts behind this. I sure cant find anything on the net.
>First stop the OpenGL.org site. After downloading their demos and sample code, noting works.
>However, the Tutorials on OpenGL don''t work with the MS Glut.
Examples for glut there were made with opengl.dll (SGI version).
If you recompile glut examples with opengl32.dll (Microsoft version, recompile should not be difficult), then most example should work.
Tod
>However, the Tutorials on OpenGL don''t work with the MS Glut.
Examples for glut there were made with opengl.dll (SGI version).
If you recompile glut examples with opengl32.dll (Microsoft version, recompile should not be difficult), then most example should work.
Tod
You can get glut from Nate Robin''s site at http://www.xmission.com/~nate/glut.html. Hope that helps.
Morgan
Morgan
After reading so many posts about OpenGL that sound like this, I think I''ve finally realised what the problem is.
People can''t remember what it''s like to have STANDARDS! OpenGL is not an API, it''s a STANDARD. It is a well documented, highly testable, set of functions to allow for the rendering of 3D graphics. Nobody "controls" it as such, unless they are on the OpenGL ARB ( Architecture Review Board ). Everyone who has a license is free to develop their own implementation of OpenGL - if it then passes the OpenGL conformance tests, you''re allowed to call it an OpenGL Implementation.
SGI is no longer making OpenGL implementations for Win32, because Microsoft has it''s own software implementation, and most video card manufacturers make their own drivers so that any OpenGL program can make use of the hardware features of their card.
Both SGI and Microsoft ARE still active in the OpenGL ARB however, where any future additions to the standard are discussed.
So - SGI IS still supporting OpenGL, just not directly for Win32.
And what Microsoft is doing with DirectX is "throw enough stuff into the API that people are whining for until it seems to work", which is why they need to bring out a new version every year or so. I think it''s quite ironic that in the end they evolved into a system that almost looks like an imitation OpenGL, as far as I''ve heard.
This is not to start a flame war on DirectX vs OpenGL, but they have completely different applications. OpenGL works very well as a "source code sharing" medium, because the standard doesn''t change, and you can almost do a straight recompile of a Silicon Graphics OpenGL program to a Win32 OpenGL program;
DirectX is more of a gaming platform. No-one cares ( much ) if the standard is changed next year, and all the functions are different, as long as the games keep working.
#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ (V)/\|) |<é!t|-| ~
People can''t remember what it''s like to have STANDARDS! OpenGL is not an API, it''s a STANDARD. It is a well documented, highly testable, set of functions to allow for the rendering of 3D graphics. Nobody "controls" it as such, unless they are on the OpenGL ARB ( Architecture Review Board ). Everyone who has a license is free to develop their own implementation of OpenGL - if it then passes the OpenGL conformance tests, you''re allowed to call it an OpenGL Implementation.
SGI is no longer making OpenGL implementations for Win32, because Microsoft has it''s own software implementation, and most video card manufacturers make their own drivers so that any OpenGL program can make use of the hardware features of their card.
Both SGI and Microsoft ARE still active in the OpenGL ARB however, where any future additions to the standard are discussed.
So - SGI IS still supporting OpenGL, just not directly for Win32.
And what Microsoft is doing with DirectX is "throw enough stuff into the API that people are whining for until it seems to work", which is why they need to bring out a new version every year or so. I think it''s quite ironic that in the end they evolved into a system that almost looks like an imitation OpenGL, as far as I''ve heard.
This is not to start a flame war on DirectX vs OpenGL, but they have completely different applications. OpenGL works very well as a "source code sharing" medium, because the standard doesn''t change, and you can almost do a straight recompile of a Silicon Graphics OpenGL program to a Win32 OpenGL program;
DirectX is more of a gaming platform. No-one cares ( much ) if the standard is changed next year, and all the functions are different, as long as the games keep working.
#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ (V)/\|) |<é!t|-| ~
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
