Wow. I am starting to think perhaps I should just use it and not question how it works. So basically GLX is very important to using OpenGL in X. It looks like it performs multiple duties (nice SNL reference) and is critical to the implementation of hardware accelerated 3d graphics in X. I am using NVIDIA's drivers on my system, so they do not use DRI? Is DRI necessary for hardware accelerated 3d application in X? I believe it is built into the newer versions. I pulled a number of key things out of here. GLU, and GLX are both distributed with XFree86, so there is no need to go searching for updated GLU and GLX libraries on the internet. GLU is a handy little utility library, nothing too fancy there. There is a scary and fine line between drivers and GLX. Thanks again, Sam -----Original Message----- From: xfree86-admin@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xfree86-admin@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jon Leech Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 8:09 PM To: xfree86@xxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: OpenGL and XFree86 On Mon, Apr 19, 2004 at 07:07:24PM -0400, Samuel Winchenbach wrote: > When I installed slackware 9.1 how did I get the GLU library? Is it > something that came with XFree? Yes. GLU is just a utility library used by apps, that makes OpenGL calls. There's nothing in there you can't write in your own app. > Also what is the purpose of GLX, and how did that get on my system? Is > it the same thing as Utah-GLX? GLX is (a) an API binding OpenGL to X, e.g. letting you setup OpenGL to draw into X windows (b) an X server extension supporting the API (c) a wire protocol carrying GLX and OpenGL indirect rendering calls. In some implementations GLX is also a floor wax and dessert topping. http://www.sgi.com/software/opengl/glandx/intro/section3_3.html#SECTION0 003000000000000000 Implementations of GLX and the OpenGL driver are relatively closely related under the hood, and both rely on underlying (invisible to apps) software layers to support efficient access to the hardware, such as NVIDIA's resource manager or DRI. Some vendors ship their own GLX implementation together with their OpenGL driver, others use the GLX that comes with XFree86. Jon Leech SGI _______________________________________________ XFree86 mailing list XFree86@xxxxxxxxxxx http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86 _______________________________________________ XFree86 mailing list XFree86@xxxxxxxxxxx http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
