I am having trouble using my mouse to rotate my opengl model using MotionNotify. The motion is being registred but I really dont have alot of control. very slow choppy, I think I am calling MotionNotify too much or something.... What is the best way to use the mouse in xwindows? TIA

I use SDL and it''s been working really well.
And it''s also multi platform.
It''s also very easy to code.
Take a look at libdsl.org

I was hoping to not use SDL or glut.
Is this not possible?

Of course it is possible. But you have to prepare yourself for a long and difficult path where those guys already done the work for you in SDL or glut or any other toolkit.

I tried to code a demo using nothing but xlib and glx. I gave up very quickly. SDL is _so_ the way to go...