i recently installed redhat 6.2 along with the mesa development package. i am having fun learning opengl although i am still not certain whether i am am running true opengl apps or are they using mesa. when compiling i am linking the GL library with -lGL and i thought that the mesa library was linked with -lMesaGL. does anyone know how to distinguish between mesa and opengl if both exist on a system???
OpenGL isn't a library per se: it's an API. So you'll never really have "OpenGL"... you'll have someone's implementation of it. Some implementations are certified and so can be called "OpenGL", but it all depends on context.
Mesa is a very close approximation of the OpenGL API (you'll be hard pressed to find a difference), but it isn't certified, hence it cannot be called "true OpenGL". However it is close enough that you'll probably never see a difference.
So... when you use Mesa yes, in a pragmatic sense, you are using OpenGL; but in a strict sense, no, you aren't.
If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it
yes, that all makes perfect sense to me. i am just confused on how to find out exactly which implementation i am using.
thanks rts
glGetString(GL_RENDERER) will tell you who implemented your OpenGL. For me, it says:Originally posted by newbe:
yes, that all makes perfect sense to me. i am just confused on how to find out exactly which implementation i am using.
thanks rts
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI G400 20000510
Hope this helps.
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