OT Linux (RE: [rescue] OT: Stuffed Proliant?)

[Joshua D Boyd]

On Wed, Dec 26, 2001 at 10:31:31PM -0500, Patrick Giagnocavo wrote:
> Sorry, I thought that most GL was 3D?  There are some OpenGL commands
> that let you do things in 2D like draw text but they are fast enough
> even on slower systems.

What is 2D?  Just 3D on a plane.  So, why bother creating 2D only functions if
not needed?  Just force the perspective to 2D (such as by gluOrtho2d) and 
boogy on.  Now, why would you want to use GL for 2D?  For accelerated 
everything.  This will give you screaming buttons and menu updates.  OK, I'm 
being silly.  But check out Blender.  That program uses GL for everything, and
is virtually unusable on systems without strong GL acceleration (my Riva 128
outperforms my Voodoo3 for menu operations in this program).  Other programs 
that use GL for most things are Softimage3D (don't know about XSI), Jot (a
major text editor on SGIs).  Rasterman ported EVAS (a rendering subsystem in
E) to take advantage of GL, although I doubt it will ever be released in a 
useable form.

There is a terminal emulator for OS X written in GL, but I'm having trouble 
finding the link.  Darn people who have DB driven sites that aren't searchable.
Ahh, finally: http://www.pollet.net/GLterm/.  From the faq, it draws 1
textured rectangle for each character in the terminal window.

Also of note is Chromium BSU, a top scroller that is incredibly smooth from the
reptile labor project.

The most impressive use of 2D GL though is from programs like Piranha and 
Inferno.  These are programs that push hard against what OpenGL can do for 2D
compositing and particle effects.

Also, I suspect that the Matrox RT2000 uses a 3D accelerator for acclerating
video fades, but I doubt they actually use GL since their GL drivers are next
to worthless by all accounts.

-- 
Joshua D. Boyd