[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 14/11/2006 11:25:22:

> Hi John,

Hi Robert,

> I would actually like to see some form of OSG and .NET/C# 
> integration for those who need it.

That's good, and to be honest I'd be surprised if you didn't want .NET 
integration, not just because of previous comments, but because I have an 
idea of how you think, even if it is just from reading your posts (if I 
didn't have to be in Hastings, standing on Senlac ridge fighting 1500 
Normans that weekend, I would've been at the Gathering).


> I would however rather see end users adopting Java, Python, Lua and 
> Ruby etc over C#, simply because it allows developers to retain full
> portability that the OSG offers. 

Absolutely. One of my original thoughts was to have C# just deal with the 
GUI, and use Lua as the OSG driver. This is because it's only a function 
call or two to get a Lua script running, which is trivial (in theory) in 
C#. But it is another (conceptual) layer between my app and OSG. We do use 
Lua in Formula 1, so we have a fair amount of experience here I could draw 
on.

> MS has been actively trying to kill OpenGL for many years, MS has 
> been trying to kill Linux too, the OSG wouldn't exist today if it 
> weren't for OpenGL or Linux so we all have to be thankful that they 
> have failed...so far. 

This is true, and it is a Bad Thing for MS to stomp on open source 
projects.

> Adopting MS technologies gives it greater influence over the 
> industry, and turning away from non MS technologies gives these 
> other technologies/groups less influence and weakens them.

I think that's a bit over-dramatic, but I share your sentiments. But OSG's 
raison d'etre is to provide a mighty tower whose foundations is the 
bedrock of OpenGL (my turn to be over-dramatic :), by having a .NET 
wrapper we're not undermining OpenGL and open source, we're providing 
links into .NET which makes it harder for MS to ditch OpenGL. Look at what 
happened when they said they wouldn't support OpenGL in Vista, a hue and 
cry ensued, and a u-turn (albeit a partial one) was made. If we add more 
developers to the collective voice by having a .NET wrapper, MS are even 
more likely to listen.

> Choice is a good thing, but choice also requires a conscious 
> decision to keep it, other wise its easy to loose it.  Sometimes, we
> are offered choices that in the short term do us good, but in the 
> long term actually close down choices, the poison pill. 

That makes the assumption that once a choice is taken, it is irrevokable. 
The OSG community as a whole is so diverse (as demonstrated in Don's 
recent poll), that there may be evolutionary dead-ends, but OSG will keep 
going. Marco and his osgNV is a case in point. Written to fill a need at 
the time, and it did it's job ably, but it was eventually superceded by 
GLSL, and OSG hasn't suffered because of it.


> If the OSG doesn't support .NET in some way then 
> perhaps they'll turn to Direct3D based API's, and OpenGL and the OSG
> will suffer so from this perspective C#.NET is better than loosing 
> users.   The less C#/.NET/Direct3D code people use the greater their
> options are, and the stronger the industry will be long term.

Absolutely. We are enabling people to have a choice, and the sooner we can 
give people that choice the better it is for us. OSG is exceptionally 
strong, and you'd be hard-pushed to find even a commercial scene graph 
(Gamebryo and RenderWare spring to mind) API that can match it. You've 
mentioned we all need to evangelise OSG more, and what better way than to 
say, "look! We've even got it running within a Microsoft bastion!"

> Promoting the likes of Java, Lua, Python and Ruby is something that 
> is much more natural to the cross platform, standards based ethos of
> the project.  For the long term health of the OSG project and user 
> users these choices will be our lifeblood. 

Agreed. If I tell my boss I can use Lua as a scene graph driver in a C# 
application with relatively little effort, he's more likely to go for 
that, than if I tell him we need to start from the ground up and write a 
.NET wrapper. But this is all my personal feelings; how do others who've 
expressed an interest feel about this? 

John Donovan
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
http://www.scee.com



**********************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

This footnote also confirms that this email message has been checked
for all known viruses.

**********************************************************************
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

_______________________________________________
osg-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://openscenegraph.net/mailman/listinfo/osg-users
http://www.openscenegraph.org/

Reply via email to