| Mesa is a 3-D graphics library which uses the OpenGL API (Application
Programming Interface). Mesa cannot be called an implementation of OpenGL
since the author did not obtain an OpenGL license from SGI. Furthermore,
Mesa cannot claim OpenGL conformance since the conformance tests are only
available to OpenGL licensees. 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. |