I don't think xscreensaver is a good example of valuable OpenGL 1.3 code that users want running on the iPhone. I think a person ought to have such an example before they start calling people idiots. Not to say that porting xscreensaver to the iPhone isn't cool, but it's only cool because it is anachronistic and whimsically impractical, like playing GameBoy games in a vintage arcade chassis in 2012.
There are a few things I couldn't figure out how to implement:
This after a year of percolation and three days (plus a few hours) of intense work by jwz. Given jwz's reputation as an insanely good programmer, I think this says a lot. As in, there's a nontrivial amount of work to do to claim near-compatibility with OpenGL 1.3, and an undetermined amount more work to claim true compatibility. Plus there may be more functionality from 1.4 and 1.5 to claim backwards compatibility with all of OpenGL 1.x. And all that to grant a (deservedly) dead desktop API new life on a mobile platform. No wonder they didn't bother.
There are a few things I couldn't figure out how to implement:
This after a year of percolation and three days (plus a few hours) of intense work by jwz. Given jwz's reputation as an insanely good programmer, I think this says a lot. As in, there's a nontrivial amount of work to do to claim near-compatibility with OpenGL 1.3, and an undetermined amount more work to claim true compatibility. Plus there may be more functionality from 1.4 and 1.5 to claim backwards compatibility with all of OpenGL 1.x. And all that to grant a (deservedly) dead desktop API new life on a mobile platform. No wonder they didn't bother.