Re: XFree86 3.3.6-10
On Mon, Sep 25, 2000 at 02:36:32PM +0200, Marcus Brinkmann <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de> was heard to say:
> > (4) Now that X runs successfully, will OpenGL compile under the hurd?
>
> I don't know what OpenGL is, so I can't tell. I only know that it has something
> to do with graphics. If it needs direct access to the card,
> you'd have to port the mach code from X (if OpenGL already supports Mach,
> than it should be fairly straightforward). If it only uses X and other
> library interfaces, then it should be rather straight.
OpenGL is a graphics API, usually used for 3D (although it can be forced
to draw in 2D as well). It can be implemented using the standard X protocol,
in which case all the calculation happens on the client side (the mesag3
package does this), or in the X server with the GLX protocol extension.
If the X server supports GLX, it may or may not use the hardware directly.
XFree86 4.0 also has a special architecture called "DRI", which (on Linux)
seems to need some kernel support. It lets programs more-or-less directly
access the graphics hardware, and improves performance substantially.
<EDITORIAL>It's also really clean and nice to write for.</EDITORIAL>
So the normal mesa packages shouldn't be hard to port, but I expect that
Utah-GLX and DRI will be a pain (I don't even know much about how they work..)
Daniel
--
/----------------- Daniel Burrows <Daniel_Burrows@brown.edu> -----------------\
| X is the second worst window system ever invented. |
| Everything else is tied for first. |
\---- Be like the kid in the movie! Play chess! -- http://www.uschess.org ---/
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