hi i have a little question is there are api like the winapi for linux? or should i use glut on linux to create opengl windows? and what about windows why do most people not use glut on windows systems

Opengl on windows is the same as opengl in linux. Don't use glut. Use SDL + OPENGL its really the best option.

I can't say I use glut on either system. SDL is a good choice and works quite well on both systems for creating an OpenGL ready window.

On *nix you generally use X Windows for windowing. So you can say that XLib is equivalent to the Win32 API for Linux, though the correlation isn't exact. In practice most people use windowing toolkits like GTK, wxWindows or Tk to create applications for the X Windows environment, though you can also use APIs like SDL if you just want to setup an OpenGL window.

Quote: Original post by gosper
Opengl on windows is the same as opengl in linux. Don't use glut. Use SDL + OPENGL its really the best option.

i just look for a library to create opengl windows


may you use SDL in commercial projects?

my second problem is to get my computer running with a nvidia driver

i use debian sarge testing with a 2.6.8.x kernel and i need to compile my own kernel to get the latest nvidia drivers to run

unfortunatly i am pretty new to linux and don t really know which things i had to compile into the kernel

Yes you can use it comercial applications. Civilization Call To Power (linux version) was written using SDL. SDL does more than just create a window. You can use it to parse keyboard commands, load image files, parse mouse clicks and a bunch of other usefull stuff.

yeah i used it once in a project some time ago

So your saying that DRI is not enabled on your box? Type the following command..

lab@debian:~$ glxinfo
name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI




Does it say that direct rendering is enabled?

that s what it says


the hardware of this computer is from february this year the debian installation is from 25th march and i had a lot of trouble to get the graphics card to work at all
currently it srunning with a vesa driver *lol*

Quote:
name of display: :0.0
Xlib: extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: No
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context
client glx vendor string: SGI
client glx version string: 1.2
client glx extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context
GLX extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
OpenGL version string: 1.3 Mesa 4.0.4
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_imaging, GL_ARB_multitexture, GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp,
GL_ARB_texture_cube_map, GL_ARB_texture_env_add,
GL_ARB_texture_env_combine, GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3,
GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_EXT_abgr, GL_EXT_blend_color,
GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract, GL_EXT_texture_env_add,
GL_EXT_texture_env_combine, GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3,
GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias
glu version: 1.3
glu extensions:
GLU_EXT_nurbs_tessellator, GLU_EXT_object_space_tess

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x22 24 tc 1 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x23 24 tc 1 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 None
0x24 24 tc 1 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x25 24 tc 1 24 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None

Well okay. You have 2 choices at this point. You can try to get DRI to work. This would require you recompile your kernel with the correct drive for your video card. Then you have to modify your xconfig file so that you have DRI enabled in the config options.


Your second option is to download the new debian sarge netinstall. This debian installation will autodetect all your hardware and config your box for you. Including DRI, xfree and your sound. If you dont think you can handle recompiling the driver into your kernel and enabling DRI in X I recommend you go with this option.