Maybe this is a stupid question, but…
since:
- there is no hw acceleration for Linux users under X11 using plain SDL
- glSDL is completely transparent
- glSDL is not bulky, nor bugous
- even if it were bugous, it can be transparently bypassed
- There are tons of threads stating “Why I can’t get HW accel on X11?”, and you have to explain them that they
must use OpenGL or glSDL each damned time 
so why glSDL isn’t an integral part of SDL, hardcored in the main lib?
If it were:
-
newbie SDL programmers under Linux would have their programs working with HW, immediately (of course, if
their card is supported - but this is an XFree thread, not SDL)
-
Linux users would always be able to use plain X11 (by not including SDL_GLSDL in SDL_SetVideoMode), for
example if their OpenGL drivers are unstable.
-
Windows users would be able to transparently choose between DirectX and OpenGL - and probably their video
card will work MUCH faster with one of them two.
-
It would be easy for SDL to fall back on DirectX - or X11 - if something goes wrong with glSDL.
CRV?ADER/KY
KnowledgE is PoweR
I think the answer probably is: because it’s quite new.On Sat, Jun 29, 2002 at 01:23:25AM +0200, CRV?ADER/KY wrote:
so why glSDL isn’t an integral part of SDL, hardcored in the main lib?
–
Matthew Miller @Matthew_Miller http://www.mattdm.org/
Boston University Linux ------> http://linux.bu.edu/
so why glSDL isn’t an integral part of SDL, hardcored in the main lib?
I think the answer probably is: because it’s quite new.
Well, there are also many quite new options in the linux kernel, for example - they are just marked with -
EXPERIMENTAL-. However, what’s the official answer, Sam?
so why glSDL isn’t an integral part of SDL, hardcored in the main lib?
I think the answer probably is: because it’s quite new.
Well, there are also many quite new options in the linux kernel, for example - they are just marked with -
EXPERIMENTAL-. However, what’s the official answer, Sam?
David hasn’t finished it. 
See ya,
-Sam Lantinga, Software Engineer, Blizzard Entertainment
- there is no hw acceleration for Linux users under X11 using plain SDL
There is hardware acceleration. This goes back to people misunderstanding
what SDL_HWSURFACE actually signifies.
- glSDL is completely transparent
No, it isn’t. There are incompatibilities, not to mention the slowdown
when you need to modify a surface directly.
- even if it were bugous, it can be transparently bypassed
Not everyone is aware of the SDL_VIDEODRIVER environment variable.
- There are tons of threads stating “Why I can’t get HW accel on
X11?”, and you have to explain them that they must use OpenGL or glSDL
each damned time
See #1.
so why glSDL isn’t an integral part of SDL, hardcored in the main lib?
See #2.
- newbie SDL programmers under Linux would have their programs
working with HW, immediately (of course, if their card is supported -
but this is an XFree thread, not SDL)
No, it’s worse than that. Almost every Linux box has OpenGL, but very few
have a supported video card that is configured correctly. There is no
universal way to determine that a GL context is hardware accelerated on
Linux, and if you end up in software Mesa, it is slow, slow, slow.
–ryan.
“slow slow slow” doesn’t even begin to describe it.On Sat, Jun 29, 2002 at 03:38:14AM -0400, Ryan C. Gordon wrote:
universal way to determine that a GL context is hardware accelerated on
Linux, and if you end up in software Mesa, it is slow, slow, slow.
–
Matthew Miller @Matthew_Miller http://www.mattdm.org/
Boston University Linux ------> http://linux.bu.edu/
so why glSDL isn’t an integral part of SDL, hardcored in the main lib?
I think the answer probably is: because it’s quite new.
Well, there are also many quite new options in the linux kernel, for example - they are just marked with -
EXPERIMENTAL-. However, what’s the official answer, Sam?
David hasn’t finished it.
Oh yeah, plus all the reasons Ryan outlined.
See ya,
-Sam Lantinga, Software Engineer, Blizzard Entertainment