Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!batcomputer!andyrose From: andyrose@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Andy Rose) Newsgroups: comp.graphics.visualization Subject: more hardware blah blah Message-ID: <1990Nov19.204135.16561@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> Date: 19 Nov 90 20:41:35 GMT Organization: Cornell Theory Center Lines: 39 At SuperComputing '90 last week in NY City, IBM had a RS-6000 550 mowing down linpacks at ~65 mflops. $140,000 to $500,000. The theory center library is working on a magazine subscription list. Please e-mail the names of magazines and scientific journals you have found useful in visualization. I will post an edited list in a week. There seems to be a lively debate about GL vs. Phigs as emerging standards for display list languages. I see more applications written in GL, and faster hardware running GL but this is changing. Phigs is 'died in blue' meaning it has IBM support (too what extent I couldn't guess). There are phigs drivers for Stardent and Suns also. I have heard that GL can go faster because phigs has not support for an interactive display list. I may have this very wrong and I would like to know the truth. Throw enough hardware at it though and phigs should run fast.(?) questions... Is conversio from GL to phigs (and vice versa) trivial? Can the two coexist? Are there other libraries in a position to be industry leaders? (Dore) What hardware runs what (see below)? Does X sit on top of these, i.e. do I care which if I write X code? How about Motif? Widget libraries? Phigs on RS-6000 (and IBMs with AIX flavor Unix), Suns (how about Sparc 2?). GL on RS-6000 and Silicon graphics. Personally I like GL (especially lookat, and stack management) and I haven't tried phigs. V for vis. -- Andrew Newkirk Rose '91 Department of Visualization CNSF/Theory Center 632 E & T Building, Hoy Road Ithaca, NY 14583 607 254 8686 andy@cornellf.tn.cornell.edu