Re: gEDA-user: PCB GTK version...

[Dave McGuire <mcguire@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jul 26, 2005, at 2:56 PM, Xtian Xultz wrote:
> > > > One think that GTK will allow easy implementation of is OpenGL alpha
> > > > transparency in
> > > > the drawing. For those without accelerated graphics you'll hate it,
> > > > but it
> > > > will be a great
> > > > improvement for those with fast hardware.
> > >
> > > The future is now, and an opengl card is cheap (even in my country).
> >
> >    For PCs, anyway.  Please keep in mind that some of us don't use 
> > PCs.
>
> Sorry Dave, I forgot about that. PCs and Macs have 3d accelerated 
> graphics,
> what kind of machine do you use?

  I use a Mac for "regular" tasks and a couple of Sun UltraSPARC 
systems for CAD work, including PCB.  My graphics hardware was selected 
for high resolution and fast 2D operations, not 3D, because printed 
circuit board layout is a 2D task.

  GTK itself puts more graphics processing load on the system than does 
the core functionality of PCB.  That strikes me as quite odd.  Nothing 
about PCB is 3D.

> But what doesnt get out of my mind, is thinking that if you want to 
> use a
> software that is graphically intensive, is not a good idea to use a 
> machine
> that isnt.

  Of course you're correct...but there's a big difference between 2D 
operations and 3D operations, and good 2D performance and good 3D 
performance seem (inexplicably) to be mutually exclusive.

            -Dave

--
Dave McGuire             "I wonder what 'Error Code 1' means. That's
Cape Coral, FL            what it said when it started smoking."  
-Jonathan Patschke