Slashdot Mirror
SGI Releases OpenGL As Free Software
StoneLion writes "Since its release, the OpenGL code that is responsible for 3-D acceleration on GNU/Linux has been running on licenses that were accepted by neither the Free Software Foundation (FSF) nor the Open Source Initiative. Today, however, the FSF has announced that the licenses in question have been rewritten, the problems resolved, and the code freed. Peter Brown, executive director of the FSF, says, 'This represents a huge gift to the free software community.'"
Great news for the community. Now lets hope this helps redirect resources, so I can get those laptop drivers fixed, and then I can finally sleep/hibernate properly!
This post brought to you by your friendly neighborhood MBA.
There are still a number of patents covering portions of the OpenGL functions. Does this grant a license for use or are we stuck with partial implementations?
"Trademarks are the heraldry of the new feudalism."
http://www.sgi.com/company_info/newsroom/press_releases/2008/september/opengl.html
Free Software Foundation and Khronos Group Both Herald New License of Industry Standard Graphics Software
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (Sept. 19, 2008) â" As software developers the world over prepare to mark the 25th anniversary of the GNU System, Silicon Graphics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGIC) today announced it is releasing a new version of the SGI Free Software License B. The license, which now mirrors the free X11 license used by X.Org, further opens previously released SGI® graphics software that has set the industry standard for visualization software and has proven essential to GNU/Linux® and a host of applications.
Today's announcement affects software created by SGI that forms the building blocks of many elements of today's gaming, visual computing, and immersive experiential technologies, including a wide range of proven visualization solutions provided by SGI.
Previous SGI contributions to the free and open source community are now available under the new license. These contributions include the SGI® OpenGL® Sample Implementation, the GLXâ API and other GLX extensions. GLX provides the glue connecting OpenGL and the X Window Systemâ and is required by any OpenGL implementation using X. GLX is vital to a range of free and commercial software, including all major Linux distributions.
SGI first released the software under a licensing model in 1999. But now SGI is pleased to release an updated version of the license that meets the free and open source software community's widely accepted definition of "free."
"SGI has been one of the most ardent commercial supporters of free and open source software, so it was important to us that we continue to support the free software development community by releasing our earlier OpenGL-related contributions under this new license," said Steve Neuner, director of Linux, SGI. "This license ensures that all existing user communities will benefit, and their work can proceed unimpeded. Both Mesa and the X.org Project can continue to utilize this code in free software distributions of GNU/Linux. Now more than ever, software previously released by SGI under earlier GLX and SGI Free Software License B is free."
Interfaces are one of the most important things in modern software creation. Interfaces are often established by implementations. This change by SGI makes sure OpenGL will stay used and even wider adopted. As far as I can see, it is the only graphics library standard that has the potential for long-term usage.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Don't be a jerk about it. From the article.
"Someone came to me on IRC and asked if people should start sending angry faxes to SGI, telling them to please clean up their licenses. And I was like, 'No, that's not the right message right now.' We were trying to avoid that kind of reaction, because among the people in the GNewSense community, there was a visceral reaction initially, and it took some time for people to realize that we needed to give them a chance. And it really paid off. SGI was very willing to work with us throughout the entire process.""
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
The link to the GLX public license lists version 1.0 which seems to still have the problematic clauses.
I'm surprised that opengl was never really 'open'. It now makes sense why it wasnt a part of glibc and/or xfree86 until recently.
The opening of video card drivers and now opengl are major steps in the success of linux on the desktop (and for gamers).
Just imagine, we can now add opengl to Heretic and Command and Conquer, and it can all still be very much free. I can't wait for when I can port Halflife2 to Linux.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
Complaining? About what? For Nvidia, what you would be looking for is PureVideo HD. I know that the Geforce 8600gt has it, and you can get that for about $80.
The code was already "free" for a given definition of "free", however, three problems were identified.
The old licences:
As such, it was easy to modify the code, but it wasn't free or open enough by the standards of either the Free Software Foundation or the Open Source Initiative.
OpenGL is a standard, just like Java is. The fact that there are many implementations of those standards doesn't mean that there is a problem. Besides which, it doesn't really matter, most people will code for the reference implementation (Sun Java and SGI OpenGL).
I wank in the shower.
Um, OpenGL already has a documented extension mechanism that is widely used, by virtually every vendor, to provide documented and open access to their extensions. Changing the licensing on one implementation of the standard will not increase the fragmentation of OpenGL, and fragmentation of OpenGL has not led nVidia and ATI to drop it.
In fact... looking at the listed extensions I see 15 _ATI_ extensions and 54 _NV_ extensions. :)
I'm building a media display machine and I want 1080p and 3d support. Is there a card that just works?
I've gotten results with a Radeon HD3450 running an HDMI to a 1080p TV. It took a little tweaking, especially of accursed X configuration files, but the standard ATI driver works.
One of the biggest complaints about OpenGL is that it is slow to evolve and doesn't reflect real world needs as well as Direct X. By opening it up, this allows for unofficial extensions that will be based on the standard but will help fill in some of these gaps. The most popular of these extensions will become part of future standards with the added benefits of already having an existing implementation and having been used in the real-world.
The response to the latest opengl release has been, to put it mildly, underwhelming. A number of opengl developers in the blogs I have read have declared intentions of moving over to directx. This is the way for opengl developers to get a bigger share of the open source developer mindshare and development effort to make up for the egg they laid earlier this year.
This wont magically solve your driver issues.
This wont magically port your game to opengl.
The openGL headers have always been available to compile against.
This is the source for the reference implementation of openGL. It would be of interest if your planning on writing a 3D 'rendering' engine (not 3d game engine) from scratch, or are interested in how the opengl stack works.
FYI, mesaGL's source has always been readily available and is based off SGI's implementation.
I am sorry, but someone has to ask. If you had told me that this happened five six years ago, I would be ecstatic, as this would have proven to be a worthy deterrent to Microsoft's DirectX, which was lagging behind OpenGL adoption.
But with DirectX with what 90% of the market(?), I fear its too little, too late. SGI, though one of the icons of the past, has had to suffer from people at the top in late 90s who had really not much vision as to how the PC world was going to pan out over the next few years and was really caught unaware when OpenGL went the way of the doodoo.
But hey, SGI was still the only place then who had Aeron chairs (this from a friend of mine who was gracious enough to invite me to their awesome lunch cafe).
Rapid Nirvana
they should fix the GLUT license.
They took issue with the first clause because, with the current patent situation in the US, anyone could be violating someone's IP rights and not even know it. The 2nd clause, because it's kind of redundant. It's already against the law, why put it in the license?
... How often do we see an article on SGI here that doesn't either forecast their demise or have updates on their latest bankruptcy filing?
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
There were two licenses listed as having problems, that's only one of them.
I can get those laptop drivers fixed, and then I can finally sleep/hibernate properly!
I've never heard of ACPI depending on an API for generating polygons, but hey whateva.
In short ACPI will take care to shut down and turn back on the power consumption of the PCIe bus. But on wake up, the *graphic drivers* will take care that everything, including the content of the graphical memory, etc. return to the exact same state, as if the 3D application running where never interrupted.
Giving an opensource OpenGL 3.x leaves more time for the developers for other parts of the drivers : to develop a nice DRI2/TTM/GEM underneath fixing low level problems like sleep/wake-up among other.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Nvidia does not support PureVideo HD in linux.
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=106584
Darn, because we really want more gamers in our community.
I know I stay up nights depressed that more 13 - 16 year olds aren't spamming our forums with even stupider questions that the window drones.
I wait for the day were the posts change from "Why don't my drivers work" to "Dude, wtf is the problem with this linux pos. This sux!!!'
I wait for the day were the posts change from "Why don't my drivers work" to "Dude, wtf is the problem with this linux pos. This sux!!!'
The funny thing is I always had more success being a bit insulting when I needed Linux help on a forum. If I asked "I can't get foo to work. I've read the docs and tried bar and baz, but it didn't help." I'd get crickets. If I said "Linux sucks because it can't do foo." Then a ton of fanboys would pile on, call me every name in the book, and then explain in exacting detail how foo can be done. They might've thought I'm a retard, but at least my question got answered. :-)
I think this has the largest number of comments from people who have absolutely no clue what the story is about than any other Slashdot story.
The relevant code was already released to the X Consortium and has been distributed with XFree86 and X.org for well over a decade. The license was badly worded and when someone noticed that it was basically impossible to comply with (and therefore not Free Software) and so SGI fixed this to clarify the original intent of the license.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News