Mesa Frequently Asked Questions

-Last updated: 21 August 2006 +Last updated: 19 September 2012
@@ -38,7 +45,7 @@ See the OpenGL website for more information.

-Mesa 6.x supports the OpenGL 1.5 specification. +Mesa 9.x supports the OpenGL 3.1 specification.

@@ -83,7 +90,7 @@ Still, Mesa serves at least these purposes: -

1.4 What's the difference between"Stand-Alone" Mesa and the DRI drivers?

1.4 What's the difference between "Stand-Alone" Mesa and the DRI drivers?

Stand-alone Mesa is the original incarnation of Mesa. On systems running the X Window System it does all its rendering through @@ -125,8 +132,7 @@ Just follow the Mesa compilation instructions.

1.6 Are there other open-source implementations of OpenGL?

-Yes, SGI's +Yes, SGI's OpenGL Sample Implemenation (SI) is available. The SI was written during the time that OpenGL was originally designed. Unfortunately, development of the SI has stagnated. @@ -134,34 +140,33 @@ Mesa is much more up to date with modern features and extensions.

-Vincent is +Vincent is an open-source implementation of OpenGL ES for mobile devices.

-miniGL +miniGL is a subset of OpenGL for PalmOS devices.

-TinyGL is a subset of OpenGL. +TinyGL +is a subset of OpenGL.

-SoftGL +SoftGL is an OpenGL subset for mobile devices.

-Chromium +Chromium isn't a conventional OpenGL implementation (it's layered upon OpenGL), but it does export the OpenGL API. It allows tiled rendering, sort-last rendering, etc.

-ClosedGL is an OpenGL subset library for TI -graphing calculators. +ClosedGL +is an OpenGL subset library for TI graphing calculators.

@@ -211,8 +216,7 @@ GLw (OpenGL widget library) is now available from a separate Linux ABI standard. +Linux ABI standard. Basically you'll want the following:

If your DRI-based driver isn't working, go to the -DRI website for trouble-shooting information. +DRI website for trouble-shooting information.

Make sure the ratio of the far to near clipping planes isn't too great. Look - here for details. +here +for details.

Mesa uses a 16-bit depth buffer by default which is smaller and faster @@ -335,12 +339,11 @@ may introduce rasterization artifacts; see the leading comments in

4.1 How can I contribute?

-First, join the Mesa3d-dev -mailing list. +First, join the mesa-dev mailing list. That's where Mesa development is discussed.

-The +The OpenGL Specification is the bible for OpenGL implemention work. You should read it.

4.3 Why isn't GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc implemented in Mesa?

-The specification for the extension +The specification for the extension indicates that there are intellectual property (IP) and/or patent issues to be dealt with.