The Cg toolkit

dv_ · 11-02-06, 02:12 PM

Hi,
I wonder why Cg isn't open source. I can understand that the drivers cannot be opensourced because of IP issues, but Cg? Are there any? Putting Cg under an opensource license would be a bonus, especially for the Linux guys. What do you think about this?

Subtestube · 11-02-06, 02:24 PM

Why does Cg need to be open source? I don't see any reason - nVidia provides more than adequate tools and interfaces for all platforms, so it seems redundant to me. It's true that the Windows version of the SDK is more complete, but that's something different again.

Aside from which, IP issues don't go away just because you're not dealing directly with hardware. I personally don't see any particular reason that it would hurt to make it Open Source, but nVidia are, at the end of the day, a corporation with a vested interest in everything they produce. I think when you're dealing with an organisation like that, they always start from a position of restricting things as much as possible, and then opening things up when there's a compelling argument to do it.

11-02-06, 02:12 PM	#1
dv_ Registered User Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 3	The Cg toolkit Hi, I wonder why Cg isn't open source. I can understand that the drivers cannot be opensourced because of IP issues, but Cg? Are there any? Putting Cg under an opensource license would be a bonus, especially for the Linux guys. What do you think about this?

11-02-06, 02:24 PM	#2
Subtestube Anisymbolic Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 1,365	Re: The Cg toolkit Why does Cg need to be open source? I don't see any reason - nVidia provides more than adequate tools and interfaces for all platforms, so it seems redundant to me. It's true that the Windows version of the SDK is more complete, but that's something different again. Aside from which, IP issues don't go away just because you're not dealing directly with hardware. I personally don't see any particular reason that it would hurt to make it Open Source, but nVidia are, at the end of the day, a corporation with a vested interest in everything they produce. I think when you're dealing with an organisation like that, they always start from a position of restricting things as much as possible, and then opening things up when there's a compelling argument to do it. __________________ Dr Possible: Core 2 Duo E6400 on Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4. Galaxy GeForce 7600GT. 2GB Corsair XMS 2 DDR2-6400 RAM (CL5). ATi Theatre 550 Pro. Windows XP MCE. All stored in Piano black Antec Sonata II, with a broken door. Mobile: ASUS M2400N, Pentium M 1.5 GHz. 512 MB DDR RAM. Intel EXTREME graphics. Windows XP SP 2 / Ubuntu 5.10. Ridiculous DOES not have an 'e' in it. It comes from "ridicule" and has less than nothing to do with the colour red.