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From: vanevery@blarg.net (Brandon J. Van Every)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.api.misc,comp.graphics.algorithms,comp.windows.x.i386unix,gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.development.apps
Subject: Re: Freeware community needs 3d library NOW
Followup-To: comp.graphics.api.misc,comp.graphics.algorithms,comp.windows.x.i386unix,gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.development.apps
Date: 29 Jun 1996 04:54:43 GMT
Organization: Blarg! Online Services 206/441-9109
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Evan Leibovitch (evan@telly.telly.org) wrote:
: In article <4qt6im$ne9@guysmiley.blarg.net>,
: Brandon J. Van Every <vanevery@blarg.net> wrote:
: Say, for the moment, that the exact same situation holds true for the 3d
: world. A company like X Inside could start supporting these accelerators,
: making them available for Linux. While such drivers would be non-free,
: they'd still be a helluva lot less expensive than their SPARC or SGI
: equivalents.
But not less expensive than their Windows 95 or NT equivalents. Most
folks have Win3.1 lying around somewhere... an upgrade to Win95 is a
mere $90, and that buys the 3d libs (OpenGL, Direct3d) and the widest
variety of market-competitive commodity hardware to choose from. And
if you bought your computer recently, the cost of Win95 is $0. Given
Microsoft's heavy-duty committment to 3d technology, the economics of
Linux don't make any sense for 3d graphics. Unless you have a
previous and steadfast committment to X11.
: Then again, nothing is stopping you (or anyone else) from signing an NDA
: with an accelerator maker, then writing and shipping your own freeware
: driver in binary-only form.
People can _pay_ me to do that. (DEC does. :-)
: Not available in freeware != not available for Linux.
Point noted. It's a big labor problem, though. It's the same problem
as for shrink-wrap UNIX apps in general. They are significantly more
expensive under UNIX, without offering tangible benefits over their
Windows counterparts.
I see a freely available, high-performance 3d API as a possible way
around the problem. A really good one, could attract serious 3d
development to the freeware UNIXen, and then market competition would
lower the cost of 3d UNIX apps. But there's the rub: the lib has to be
really, really good. An adequate one will be good for hackers and
academics, but it won't attract real commercial 3d development.
Also, my current thinking is that the lib probably has to be OpenGL,
and not Free3d or a Direct3d clone. (Offline, Brian Paul and Allen
Akin have persuaded me that a high-performance OpenGL is tenable,
albeit a lot of work.) I'm looking at the Mesa sources to see what
can be done.
Cheers,
--
Brandon J. Van Every | Check out Free3d, my 100% efficient, 100% portable
| 3d lib, at <http://www.blarg.net/~vanevery>.
3d Computer Graphics |
C++ UNIX X11 WinNT | E-mail: vanevery@blarg.net