In other words, we need an MSDN equivalent for modern OpenGL.
There are few things I want to see happen as badly as that.
I know that Microsoft is out of the question, but at the very least Apple should step up to the plate. They've done a pretty good job at creating very MSDN-like knowledge base for IOS development, among other things. My respect for Apple would increase drastically if they helped propel OpenGL as Microsoft did with DirectX, and with a market share over $300B they should have the money to blow away on increasing the standards of all the technologies their own software and operating systems rely on!
/anxious-to-see-opengl-truly-mature
I don't know what Polkm's deal is but he has clearly never used MSDN, I use it on a daily basis just about and can say with utmost confidence that he has no idea what he's talking about. Some examples; I was recently working on a C++ application to visualize music, and in that process I wanted to try and visualize audio playing through the system's audio endpoint, to get around having to play a specific MP3 or write a plug-in for an existing media player. So what I did is research the Windows 7 audio platform and architecture on MSDN, found the API's on MSDN, and even some sample code on MSDN, as well as ridiculously clear and intuitive information on how it was all connected (hell, they even create logical diagrams for you). Within a couple hours I had it all done and my software was running as I wanted, much simpler than it was for XP.
http://gltiich.blogs...-windows-7.html
Not long after that I bought some MIDI instruments, again, Microsoft documented everything so well and so clearly, that I was up and going with my own MIDI software to do some stuff for fun in just a couple hours (piecing everything together at first can be a bit slow hehe).
http://gltiich.blogs...put-with-c.html
MSDN has STL C++ documentation, and even entire sections around clever/neat short-hand notations and tricks. Things I never found so well centralized or organized on C++ focused websites like cprogramming.com or cplusplus.com. After having been developing with C++ for years I came across those sections in MSDN and learned quite a few new things and even had better clarity on many features I didn't have before then.
Also all of their platforms are documented in detail and followed-up with technical and howto articles.
Learning OpenGL in contrast for me was a long and painful experience, specifications are not clear or intuitive. I spent years trial-and-error developing a lot of it and piecing together a lot of separate specification documents to build the 'whole picture' conceptually. I don't care who you are or how smart you think you are - that is not a good method to learn something, especially if you want broader acceptance out of the professional gaming industry.
An MSDN equivalent for OpenGL is exactly what OpenGL needs in order to have a foundation to back its marketing. OpenGL as a whole needs to grow up, not just it's API, but everything around it including a support base for future/new programmers.
Finally, clearly, Microsoft has a conflict of interest in supporting OpenGL, even though they do to a limited extent (documentation wise). But a major player that is as well as financed like Apple, that could really make this all happen, it must! >:]