lgfxgears, a new alternative to the famous glxgears demo

According to Hendersj’s message, i now telling some informations about lgfxgears, and about my works.

In my whole life, i was doed my softwares for the windows platform. I make mostly 3d softwares. My first 3d engine i writed several years before, from scratch, when my age was 11, it used software rendering, it was a dos program. My current graphics engine i started develop at 2005 december. Beethwen this two engine, cireca a decade year elapsed. My current engine is not just a graphics engine, it is a complete game engine, that allows me to work with a masked-layered graphics interface. I alreday doed several 3d applications. Mostly for fun, to the entertainment of myself and others, who like it. And a few times i made some 3d stuffs for small companys. My first contact with linux was around 2002, but i declared it with one word: sucks. Later, as linux went more and more usable, i declared it as cool, and i tought that it will be ideal to compile some of my 3dness to linux too. I feeld that supporting linux with applications is a very good idea, becouse it is a free system. This was in 2007. So i started it use, and after i got some skill in it, i compiled my codes under it. After a few days of pain, the code runned finely - on my computer, but not on others: seriues dependency problems appeared. Then i wasnt cared about linux for years, except that i was killed the dependency problems (if i compiled a stuff, i always thinked to remove at least one dependency), but i not really developed for it. At january 2009, my binary files was compatible with most of the linux systems available.
Sometimes, just an inspiration comes to the mind of the man, to do a small software, like the lgfxgears. This kind of developing is very common in the hungarian software developer communitys. Making lgfxgears taked 1 day, becouse of course lgfxgears are uses my game engine.

And now, lets compare lgfxgears to the old glxgears.

A modern, layered game engine looks like this:
http://legend.uw.hu/susetab1.jpg

The raw source code size varyes mostly in a modern engine beethwen 200 kbyte - 4 mbyte. The graphics pipeline is very complex, to handle all requests that are coming from the scripting and controlling layers. A game engine is a complex structure. A modern game engine on pc has ability to use pixel and vertex shaders to render, has integrated effect handler like particle, smoke handling, character handling, text writing, and other ~500 necessarary features. A modern game engines rendering methods are laying to the modern graphics rendering techniques, like vertex buffer object handling, antialiasing, triangle based rendering.

Of course, these things are stands for my game engine also. So lgfxgears is just a miniapp, using my game engine.

Then, lets see the old glxgears in linux apps. glxgears has no graphics engine, glxgears is just a bounch of calls that produce rotating gears. Of course, this is not a problem, this is a different type of mading graphics applications, but with this, complex graphics applications cannot be made. This is not a really problem with glxgears. The problem is, that glxgears uses features that has been never or rare will be seen in a game, or a graphics application. First of all, glxgears uses quad strips, but the graphics card is only compatible with triangles on transistor level. Second, glxgears does not use vertex buffer objects, this means that sends every geometry trough agp/pcie port in every frame. Third, lgfxgears has not even texture support, and does the lighting with materials. This was last time popular in 1996.

Therefore, glxgears is not a benchmark. To expand glxgears without complete rewrite, would not even technically possible.

But lgfxgears, yes, it is a benchmark, becouse it is laying on a modern graphics engine with the modern features and techniques above. Even if it was doed in one day. The only relationship beethwen the two applications is that, that both are drawing some kind of rotating gears.

So i writed lgfxgears just for fun, becouse i saw that glxgears is cant do its job anymore correctly.

And lets see what linux users win with lgfxgears. They win a freeware benchmark, that a bit looks like glxgears (its tiny size, and can be placed to linux distros, can benchmark). I am also winning on lgfxgears, becouse i will get a tons of bugreport and fps numbers with various of systems, and can maintain my source codes and enhance compatibility.

The later plans was that, that i will done a hughe benchmark for linux, like the 3dmark for the windows platform.

And now, for others who are just started to think that i am the satan’s new reincarnation of the earth:

At most linux forum, peoples just simply loved the lgfxgears. They send a tons of speed reports, bugreports, gived me hints, how to expand the app. No one wanted to blackmail me for releasing the source code. Aniway, if your aim would be the cooperation, you two would me ask me first to get another download url. Thats not even your win: i sayd that it can be deleted, becouse i alreday replaced the download links everywhere. Dudes, if you feel that a little freeware tool, that rotates some gears on your screen, its a potentially hazard, and should be destroyed from its download url becouse is does not fit in to your idea, then there is a serious problem, and your movement is condemned to dead. And the hangman is YOU.

Hey Geri_lgfx, your contributions are appreciated.

But as in many things in life, there is a lot of room for misunderstandings, and as part of the resolution process, more misunderstandings can unfortunately happen.

As you probably noted, openSUSE has the name “open” stuck in front. This was done as part of the change from “SuSE” to “openSUSE” and the “open” implies that as much as practical, Novell and SuSE-GmbH are providing a product that contains free open source software (where that is not free as in “free beer” but free as in the Free Software Foundation definition of free). You can read more here: Free Software Philosophy - openSUSE … but I think you know all this already - ie its OLD news for you.

As noted above, your lgfxgears is NOT free per the openSource Free Software defiintion, although it is a contribution, and as such being a contribution it is most appreciated. But when considering openSUSE I hope you can understand that a number of us are STRONG believers in free open source software, which is one of the MAIN reasons we use openSUSE. Hence when confronted with software that is not open source, we want to know a lot more. Thats just human nature of the sort of people (like me) who are attracted to openSUSE.

Take me for example - I started using Linux in 1998, but because of a number of reasons (one of which was my free open source software views) I refused to use a proprietary graphic driver until 2007 (ie for about 9 years !! ). I refuse to keep applications such as some from Google because its not open source. …

Users like me are much happier with software packages that we can compile ourselves, and where we can examine the source code ourselves, to ensure there is nothing malicious inside. We like software we can modify ourselves. Thats just us. And thats where the skeptism comes from.

That may all change one day, if Linux comes more popular, and if users who do NOT want to show their code (but who do want to share their applications) become more common. But currently, users who DO want to share their code are more common in Linux and openSUSE appeals to such users.

So welcome to our forum, and please note we are a diversified group, with varying and very strong views when it comes to software.

Best wishes in your efforts and thankyou for taking the time to post on our forum.

well i think Geri_lgfx simply don’t understand what means opensource and gpl licensed software… i see that from his statement:

so, his think that keeping his little game engine binary only and closed can avoid brute force disassembling and … reassembling … at assembler code level … anyone can do that … anyone can steal his lovely game engine …

ofcourse, if will publish his game engine source code, again anyone can copy his game engine source code …but who want to spend so much time with someone else source code when everybody have his private/source code/binary closed game engine? nobody … except him because who can understand better a software project other than persons who already create that software project!?

acces to source code in our open source world is a requirement for good test cases and REPRODUCTIBLE RESULTS, security audits and bug hunting not for stealing anybody work … bug hunting is not identical to original creation and understanding as an coherent entity an entire software project … very few developers will have time and enough interest to dig & read so deeply and thoroughly all his little game engine source code …

to support my claim is here, in front of our eyes, exactly the main culprit:

glxgears

an old program … for sure obsolete as a modern graphic cards test case … why? because no capable developers have enough time and incentive to do such thing … to put his hands at this old software project and enhance/extend it to be more in line with 2010 age … is other things more interesting to do not so?

look like Geri_lgfx have some interest/incentive to inject a new life in an old software project … and have enough expertise to do that … but is sad to see his don’t understand what means opensource and a gpl software license …

totedati wrote:
> is sad to see his don’t understand what means opensource and a gpl
> software license …

he is probably gone for good, his last post here was in March 2010…

i don’t think he wanted to understand either open source or why i
wasn’t about to load his closed code on my machine and run it…

friends don’t let friends run closed code from untrusted and unknown
sources!


DenverD (aka: palladium)
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
via NNTP w/TBird 2.0.0.23 | KDE 3.5.7 | openSUSE 10.3
2.6.22.19-0.4-default SMP i686
AMD Athlon 1 GB RAM | GeForce FX 5500 | ASRock K8Upgrade-760GX |
CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio

totedati wrote:
> well i think

dang! i forgot to say -=welcome=- to our forum first time poster
totedati…

your first post shows a level of FOSS understanding we can use a lot
more of around here…

i hope you will hang around and spread your knowledge and help where
you can…and as your time allows!


DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
via NNTP w/TBird 2.0.0.23 | KDE 3.5.7 | openSUSE 10.3
2.6.22.19-0.4-default SMP i686
AMD Athlon 1 GB RAM | GeForce FX 5500 | ASRock K8Upgrade-760GX |
CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio

ATI 2600XT openSUSE 11.3

OpenGL vendor string: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI R600 (RV630 9588) 20090101 x86/MMX+/3DNow!+/SSE2 TCL DRI2
OpenGL version string: 2.0 Mesa 7.8.2

lgfxgears = 30 fps

Azger wrote:
> ATI 2600XT OPENSUSE 11.3
>
> OPENGL VENDOR STRING: ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
> OPENGL RENDERER STRING: MESA DRI R600 (RV630 9588) 20090101
> X86/MMX+/3DNOW!+/SSE2 TCL DRI2
> OPENGL VERSION STRING: 2.0 *MESA 7.8.2
> *lgfxgears = 30 fps

if you are asking a question, you need to try again…
if not asking a question what are you posting, and why?


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DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]
**

Reads like a happy lgfxgears user who wants to show their results from using the program.