To: Jon Leech Subject: Updating the OpenGL ABI for Linux - feedback requested From: Jon Leech Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 17:21:18 -0700 You're receiving this email because you were formerly subscribed to the 'oglbase-discuss@sgi.com' mailing list, where we developed the OpenGL ABI for Linux back in 2000. The mailing list was closed down in 2002 for lack of activity; I'm Bcc-ing all subscribers at the time it closed, to avoid the an email flood if anyone were to misdirect a reply to the entire Cc list. As a reminder, the ABI specification was released in June 2000, and is hosted at: http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-sample/ABI/index.html Recently, some of the members of the ARB (the industry standards body responsible for the OpenGL Specification) have become interested in updating the ABI to track the current release of OpenGL and current practice in Linux distributions. The ARB is not the right place to do this work, however. I've talked with folks at the Linux Standard Base project (http://www.linuxbase.org/), and I believe LSB is receptive to adding the ABI to its responsibilities, probably as part of or in association with their lsb-graphics workgroup. The first version of the ABI was developed in an informal, consensus-driven fashion on the mailing list. That means there's no formal mechanism for moving the ABI under the more organized umbrella of LSB; contacting all the people who helped develop it seems like the only alternative. So this email is to let you know that I am talking with LSB, to give you a chance to comment if you don't like the idea of putting the ABI specification under the control of LSB, and to give you a heads-up that, failing significant pushback, LSB will probably adopt this project relatively soon. At that point, you would need to sign up to the LSB project mailing lists (see URL above) to take part in the next revision. If LSB does take on the ABI, it will be announced on opengl.org and other public websites and newsgroups, so people will know to participate in that context. Jon Leech (ljp@sgi.com) Editor, OpenGL ABI for Linux OpenGL ARB Secretary Silicon Graphics, Inc.