[The Mesa 3D Graphics Library]
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   * Introduction
   * Supported Systems
   * Acknowledgments
   * Y2k Compliance

Introduction

Mesa is a 3-D graphics library with an API which is very similar to that of
OpenGL.* To the extent that Mesa utilizes the OpenGL command syntax or state
machine, it is being used with authorization from Silicon Graphics,
Inc(SGI). However, the author does not possess an OpenGL license from SGI,
and makes no claim that Mesa is in any way a compatible replacement for
OpenGL or associated with SGI. Those who want a licensed implementaion of
OpenGL should contact a licensed vendor. Mesa is distributed under the terms
of the GNU Library General Public License, see the LICENSE file for details.

While Mesa is not a licensed OpenGL implementation, it is currently being
tested with the OpenGL conformance tests. For the current conformance status
see the CONFORM file included in the Mesa distribution. Despite these
technical/legal terms, you may find Mesa to be a valid alternative to
OpenGL. Most applications written for OpenGL can use Mesa instead without
changing the source code.

Please do not refer to the library as MesaGL (for legal reasons). It's just
Mesa or The Mesa 3-D graphics library.

Systems Supported

Mesa was originally designed for Unix/X11 systems and is still best
supported on those systems. All you need is an ANSI C compiler and the X
development environment to use Mesa. Others have contributed drivers for the
Amiga, Apple Macintosh, BeOS, NeXT, OS/2, MS-DOS, VMS, and Windows 9x/NT.
See the README file included with the Mesa distribution for more details.

3D Hardware Support in Mesa 3.x:

NOTE: For general linux 3d hardware information, surf www.linux3d.org or
linux3d.netpedia.net.

   * 3dfx Voodoo1, Voodoo2, Voodoo Rush, Voodoo Banshee, Voodoo3
          All cards based on these chipsets should work with Linux and
          Windows 95 via 3dfx's glide library.

          David Bucciarelli wrote and maintains the 3dfx driver for Mesa.
          Look here for the latest info.

          Daryll Strauss wrote and maintains the Linux version of Glide.
          Look here for the latest info.

   * nVidia
          nVidia drivers (based on Mesa 3.0) and information can be found at
          http://www.nvidia.com/Products.nsf/htmlmedia/software_drivers.html.
          In addition, you can find RPMS at
          ftp://ftp.mesa3d.org/mesa/misc/nVidia/.

   * Amiga Warp3D
          Amiga systems can support 3D hardware with the Warp3D API. See
          here.

New projects

   * Precision Insight, Inc. is implementing a new 3D architecture for
     XFree86 using Mesa.
   * S.u.S.E. is working with the XFree86 group to integrate 3-D hardware
     support into the XFree86 X server for Linux. Currently, a variety of
     3Dlabs chipsets are being targeted. There is no targeted release date
     at this time. Also see the XFree86 3D Status Report for information.
   * These people are working on acceleration for the Matrox G200 cards
     using the partial release of the programming specs from Matrox.

Why isn't there hardware support for my graphics card?

     Supporting the 3dfx hardware was relatively simple because of the 3dfx
     Glide library. In order to support other 3D hardware we need:

        o Detailed technical specifications which often must be obtained
          under NDA.
        o Volunteers to write a Mesa driver for the hardware.
        o On Unix systems we ideally want integrations with the X server.
          This is complicated work.

     If you would like to work on a hardware project you should post to the
     Mesa mailing list to organize a development team. It will probably be
     easier to get hardware vendor cooperation if there is an organized
     group of developers rather than just one person.

Acknowledgments

In addition to the contributors listed on the developers page, the following
parties are to be acknowledged for their contributions.

     Early Mesa development was done while Brian was part of the SSEC
     Visualization Project at the University of Wisconsin. He'd like to
     thank Bill Hibbard for letting him work on Mesa as part of that
     project.

     John Carmack of id Software, Inc. has funded Keith Whitwell in
     order to optimize Mesa's vertex transformation module. This is a
     very substantial piece of work.

     The mesa3d.org domain is hosted by VA Research. Thanks to VA
     Research and Rob Walker for site administration.

Y2k Compliance

Since several people have asked, Mesa is Y2k safe. Mesa is just a graphics
library; it does not make use of the system's date or time facilities. This
is true for all versions of Mesa.

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Last Modified: Wed Aug 25 06:09:44 1999