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Microsoft Claims IP Rights on Portions of OpenGL

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the thanks-sgi dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Minutes of the latest OpenGL ARB meeting reveal that Microsoft is claiming IP over the vertex and fragment extensions, both critical for exposing the capabilities of modern graphics hardware. The minutes also include an update on the progress of OpenGL 2.0." The question is, what does this mean for Linux -- how will Microsoft exercise their "rights"?

6 of 361 comments (clear)

  1. They have every right to do whatever they want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Of course and they have the "right". They bought a whole lot of IP from SGI a few months ago.
    Check it out here:
    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/01/16/182425 6&mode=thread&tid=152

  2. It's an ARB requirement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's an ARB requirement for any participant to state that they might have IP involved in a particular feature or extension. Try checking out previous ARB minutes where nVidia, ATI, and other companies have made statements about their own IP and possible conflicts. This is a non-issue.

  3. Too little to go on... by Codeala · · Score: 5, Informative
    This is their entire claim as recorded in the minute:
    Microsoft believes they have patent rights relating to the ARB_vertex_program extension.
    Not much to go on really. What is interesting is the members' reactions (especially NVIDIA's):
    IBM thinks it's premature to vote on this without seeing the MS license terms. NVIDIA wants to vote it in at this meeting. SGI thinks if we can't deal with IP claims, we might as well all go home.
    It seems crazy to "vote it in" (as in agreeing?) with so little information. Unless you are in really deep with MS ;-)
    --

    Codeala - Just another mindless drone
  4. Re:How about the Emotion Engine on PC? by Namarrgon · · Score: 4, Informative
    ? How do you figure MS has a monopoly on 3D graphics? They don't make any 3D hardware. DirectX is a Windows-only API, but you can also use the popular & platform-independant OpenGL API (yes, even on the Xbox, though you can thank nVidia for that).

    Pretty much all consumer-level hardware comes with both DirectX and OpenGL drivers, thanks mostly to id Software. Until recently, almost all professional-level hardware only came with OpenGL support. SGI are still in there, the Linux 3D scene is improving daily, and Apple are throwing ever more weight behind OpenGL too. 3D is hardly an MS-only game (at least until MS eliminates all other OS competitors completely).

    In fact, Sony is a very minor player. They have their own weirdo hardware (which is incompatible with all non-PS2 software), but what would they do with it? Stick it on a PCI card with OpenGL & DirectX drivers, just like nVidia, ATI, Matrox, 3dlabs etc etc? Invent their own peculiar API that no-one supports? What exactly are they supposed to do that isn't already being done by everyone else?

    --
    Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
  5. Microsoft and 3D Graphics: A Case Study by Performer+Guy · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.vcnet.com/bms/features/3d.html

  6. Re:It's not what it'll do to Linux... by G-funk · · Score: 4, Informative
    OpenGL will die on Windows at the same time as John Carmack dies.
    I now regret killing him so many times in Doom II. I guess I've done my part to support the monopoly...


    Dude that's John Romero. The chanting you hear when you enter the final level is "To win the game, you must destroy me, John Romero" played backwards at half speed.
    --
    Send lawyers, guns, and money!