I’m wondering if there’s a significant difference between the last release build of JOGL and the nightly builds. Can I assume that nightly build downloads (while not necessarily bug free) at least constitute working versions?
Has there been any regularity to JOGL release dates as of yet?
I’ve always found the nightly builds to be stable, and at least as bug-free as the actual release builds. Grab the latest and give it a try, odds are it’ll be fine.
I think for the Mac you want a very recent build… even if you don’t use it yourself, do it for us Mac WebStart users. There are already many apps that use JOGL that are broken on the Mac because they have an old version in there WebStart distribution… part of my argument for hosting a .jnlp file at java.net that everyone else can reference… save your self some bandwidth and get the bug fixes faster. If you NEED as specific version of JOGL instead of the latest then that is the time to host it yourself. (Until we have stable URLs to jnlp fiels for ‘release’ versions of the core APIs.)
It seems apparent, after spending a day with OpenGL/JoGL, that it would be of benefit to obtain a book on OpenGL programming (so as to further explain things, above and beyond the nice, but incomplete inadequate NeHe tutorials). That is, of course, unless someone can suggest another place to get online tutorials.
I will have to check OpenGL.org.
The OpenGL Programmer’s Guide (Red Book I think it’s referred to as) is invaluable when you’re starting out.
Cas 
Hey, thanks for the link! I had already downloaded the OpenGL specification for 1.4, but that turned out to be more a technical manual for hardware/software library implementors.
At this point, I’m really just using it to do 2D on a textured quad, but I’d like to perhaps do more in the future. Is there a newer version of the “Learning” guide, or am I good to go with the 1.1 version (which is what the link pointed to).
Again, thanks for the help and resources.
Hm…thinking again about the 1.1 vs. 1.4 guide issue, perhaps this is one of those situations where I should code to the 1.1 libraries? If I don’t use any library functions that are not listed in the 1.1 guide, does that give my app 1.1 compatibility (i.e. so long as the user has at least OpenGL 1.1 drivers)? Perhaps the answer to that question depends on whether I’m using Jogl, Xith or LWJGL, etc. etc?
The 1.1 version of the red book is good enogh when getting started. If you want a newer version, you’ll have to by it. There is a sample chapter here:
http://www.aw-bc.com/samplechapter/0321173481.pdf
The opengl man pages is good to have when you have to look up a gl function:
http://www.opengl.org/documentation/specs/man_pages/hardcopy/GL/html/
Although it only covers 1.1 I think.
Then there is the OpenGL Extension Registry:
http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-sample/registry/