Direct3D may be more than a 3D graphics API...It may ALSO be a hardware interface standard.
A given graphics card, might, if I may, speak "D3D-ese" and/or "GL-ese", if you know what I mean.
I recommend that the hardware driver guys investigate this, and if this IS true (D3D-ese vs GL-ese), then I suggest we put out a "D3D API" similar to Mesa, or we could put in a GL-to-D3D translation module. (this could also be vice versa, D3D-to-GL, because D3D retained mode is pretty dang useful, what with its frames and meshes, very nice automatic geometry handling)
A D3D API may alsp be useful, and as XFree86 becomes more popular (and I'm sure it will), D3D programmers may have difficulty migrating to OpenGL, and a D3D API would help that. I just hope DirectX isn't an MS trademark,
It is.
or that they've copyrighted the API...That sounds like something Micro$oft might do.
Copyright only applies to a specific code implementation (I think even in the US), however, I think this might be more a software patent issue (just US yet).
And porting over MS APIs is no good idea in general IMHO.
Thomas
-- Thomas Winischhofer Vienna/Austria thomas AT winischhofer DOT net http://www.winischhofer.net/ twini AT xfree86 DOT org
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