Editing Mesa (computer graphics) (section)

{{short description|Free and open-source library for 3D graphics rendering}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Mesa
| logo = Mesa3D logo.svg
| author = {{#statements:creator}}
| developer = '''Currently:''' [[Igalia]], [[Collabora]], [[Valve Corporation|Valve]], [[Intel]], [[Google]], [[AMD]], [[VMware]]<br />'''Formerly:''' Tungsten Graphics<ref name="tungsten-vmware">{{cite news|url=http://www.infoworld.com/d/virtualization/vmwares-year-end-acquisition-tungsten-graphics-196|title=VMware's year end acquisition of Tungsten Graphics|publisher=[[InfoWorld]]|last=Marshall|first=David|date=16 December 2008|access-date=6 August 2011}}</ref>
| released = {{#statements:publication date}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|single|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}|df=yes}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|edit|P348|P548=Q1072356}}
| latest preview date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|single|P348|P548=Q1072356|P577}}|df=yes}}
| repo = {{wikidata|property|P1324}}
| programming language = {{#statements:programmed in}}
| operating system = [[Cross-platform]] ([[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSDs]], [[Haiku (operating system)|Haiku]], [[Linux]], etc.)
| genre = [[Graphics library]]
| license = {{#statements:copyright license}}
| website = {{wikidata|property|P856}}
}}

'''Mesa''', also called '''Mesa3D''' and '''The Mesa 3D Graphics Library''', is an [[open-source software|open source]] implementation of [[OpenGL]], [[Vulkan]], and other [[graphics API]] specifications. Mesa translates these specifications to vendor-specific graphics hardware drivers.

Its most important users are two graphics drivers mostly developed and funded by [[Intel]] and [[AMD]] for their respective hardware (AMD promotes their Mesa drivers Radeon and RadeonSI over the deprecated [[AMD Catalyst]], and Intel has only supported the Mesa driver). Proprietary graphics drivers (e.g., [[Nvidia GeForce driver]] and Catalyst) replace all of Mesa, providing their own implementation of a graphics API. An open-source effort to write a Mesa Nvidia driver called [[Nouveau (software)|Nouveau]] is developed mostly by the community.

Besides 3D applications such as games, modern [[display server]]s ([[Glamor (software)|X.org's Glamor]] or [[Wayland (display server protocol)|Wayland]]'s [[Weston (software)|Weston]]) use OpenGL/[[EGL (API)|EGL]]; therefore all graphics typically go through Mesa.

Mesa is hosted by [[freedesktop.org]] and was initiated in August 1993 by [[Brian Paul]], who is still active in the project. Mesa was subsequently widely adopted and now contains numerous contributions from various individuals and corporations worldwide, including from the graphics hardware manufacturers of the [[Khronos Group]] that administer the OpenGL specification. For Linux, development has also been partially driven by [[crowdfunding]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/improve-opengl-support-for-the-linux-graphics-drivers-mesa |title=Improve OpenGL support for the Linux Graphics Drivers - Mesa |work=[[Indiegogo]] |date=11 December 2013 |access-date=21 January 2015}}</ref>
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