* Conventions Used in This Document

This document assumes that VirtualGL will be installed in the default directory
({file: /opt/VirtualGL}).  If your installation of VirtualGL resides in a
different directory, then adjust the instructions accordingly.

** Terminology

	3D application :: A computer program that uses a 3D rendering API
	([[http://opengl.org][OpenGL]], for the purposes of this document) to
	generate 2D images/animation frames ("rendered frames") from 3D data in real
	time

	VirtualGL server/application server (sometimes just "server") :: The remote
	machine ("remote" from the point of view of the user) on which 3D
	applications will be run with VirtualGL

	3D graphics accelerator/graphics processing unit (GPU) :: A specialized
	hardware device that processes 3D rendering commands and data from a 3D
	application into 2D images much more quickly than a general-purpose CPU
	could.  In order to effectively use VirtualGL, a GPU must be present in the
	VirtualGL server.

	3D X server :: An X Window System server ("X server") attached to one or more
	GPUs in the VirtualGL server.  The 3D X server can be "headless" (not
	attached to a monitor.)

	X proxy :: A virtual X server that runs on a remote machine (usually, but not
	always, on the VirtualGL server.)  Because X proxies render X Window System
	("X11") drawing commands to a virtual framebuffer in main memory rather than
	to a real framebuffer in GPU memory, multiple simultaneous instances of an X
	proxy can co-exist on the same server.  However, for the same reason, X
	proxies generally do not support hardware-accelerated 3D rendering (without
	the help of VirtualGL.)  Most X proxies send only images to the client.

	2D X server :: The X server to which the 3D application's GUI will be
	displayed, and with which the user will interact.  The 2D X server can be an
	actual X server running on the local machine ("local" from the point of view
	of the user) or a remote X proxy instance.  The 2D X server does not need to
	support OpenGL.

	VirtualGL Faker :: A shared library ("dynamic shared object" or "DSO"),
	loaded into a Linux/Unix OpenGL application at run time, that intercepts and
	modifies ("interposes") certain GLX, OpenGL, X11, and XCB function calls in
	order to seamlessly redirect 3D rendering into an off-screen buffer on a GPU,
	read back the rendered frames, and transport the rendered frames (which
	normally means delivering them to the 2D X server)

	back end :: The method by which the VirtualGL Faker creates off-screen
	buffers on a GPU and redirects 3D rendering into them.  The GLX back end uses
	the GLX API, so it can only access a GPU through an attached X server (the 3D
	X server.)  The EGL back end uses the EGL API with the
	''EGL_EXT_platform_device'' extension, so it accesses a GPU through an
	associated DRI device without the need for a 3D X server.  The EGL back end
	emulates a subset of the GLX API using the EGL API.  Since the EGL API does
	not support multi-buffering (double buffering or quad-buffered stereo) with
	off-screen surfaces, the EGL back end emulates multi-buffering using OpenGL
	renderbuffer objects (RBOs.)  As of this writing, the EGL back end does not
	yet support all of the GLX extensions and esoteric OpenGL features that the
	GLX back end supports.

	frame trigger :: A function that is called by the 3D application to signal
	that it has finished rendering a frame.  VirtualGL reads back and transports
	a rendered frame if the 3D application calls ''glXSwapBuffers()'' while
	rendering to the back buffer or if the application calls ''glFinish()'',
	''glXWaitGL()'', or (optionally) ''glFlush()'' while rendering to the front
	buffer.

	VGL Transport :: The (optional) protocol that VirtualGL uses to transport
	rendered frames to a 2D X server on a machine other than the VirtualGL server

	VirtualGL Client :: The (optional) application that receives rendered frames
	in real time from the VirtualGL Faker by way of the VGL Transport,
	decompresses or decodes those frames, and composites them into the 3D
	application's windows

	client :: The machine that is physically in front of the user.  For the
	purposes of this document, the word "client"-- when used generically-- always
	refers to this machine, not to the VirtualGL Client application.
