There was a change in the technology that needed a change in the API. Not a single GPU use a fixed pipeline anymore, so the API needs to change.
I see OpenGL as a testing platform that learned by trowing to the wall and learning what sticks. Companies create extensions and if people find it useful they became part of the language, but in any API there is a need for removing what is not used anymore or can be done much more efficient with new ways.
Maintaining code takes a lot of resources and is a pain in the ass to program, I can tell you(you have to emulate a lot of things that do not exist anymore, including BUGS or HACKS).
I could understand not being Apple extreme here, e.g look at the Apple TV and you only see new digital ports, but the other extreme, don't touch anything for 20 years because it works is equally non sense..
I remember a brand new computer that was hanged 5 seconds on the start up by a 1.4M floppy disk because the people who assembled the computer were afraid to remove the thing. I had to remove the thing, left a horrible hole and I discovered the machine had the floppy check hardwired in the BIOS!!!
You buy a computer today and it has parallel, serial and PS2 ports with an outdated BIOS with 1981 timings they can't change so they don't "break legacy standards".
You buy a computer in 2012 with a 1900x1080 pixels and the first thing you see is a horrible black screen with fuzzy letters.
Non sense. openGL needs to be way more clean that what it is now, where it is impossible to remove anything because some company of the consortium find the feature "essential" because they have some legacy code they are too lazy to update.
There was a change in the technology that needed a change in the API. Not a single GPU use a fixed pipeline anymore, so the API needs to change.
I see OpenGL as a testing platform that learned by trowing to the wall and learning what sticks. Companies create extensions and if people find it useful they became part of the language, but in any API there is a need for removing what is not used anymore or can be done much more efficient with new ways.
Maintaining code takes a lot of resources and is a pain in the ass to program, I can tell you(you have to emulate a lot of things that do not exist anymore, including BUGS or HACKS).
I could understand not being Apple extreme here, e.g look at the Apple TV and you only see new digital ports, but the other extreme, don't touch anything for 20 years because it works is equally non sense..
I remember a brand new computer that was hanged 5 seconds on the start up by a 1.4M floppy disk because the people who assembled the computer were afraid to remove the thing. I had to remove the thing, left a horrible hole and I discovered the machine had the floppy check hardwired in the BIOS!!!
You buy a computer today and it has parallel, serial and PS2 ports with an outdated BIOS with 1981 timings they can't change so they don't "break legacy standards".
You buy a computer in 2012 with a 1900x1080 pixels and the first thing you see is a horrible black screen with fuzzy letters.
Non sense. openGL needs to be way more clean that what it is now, where it is impossible to remove anything because some company of the consortium find the feature "essential" because they have some legacy code they are too lazy to update.