A brief history of OpenGL explains how OpenGL came to be and what inspired its development. OpenGL is the successor to a graphics library known as IRIS GL (GL stands for graphics library) developed by SGI as a hardware independent graphics interface for use across a full line of graphics workstations. IRIS GL [4] is used by more than 1,500 3D graphics applications. IRIS GL was developed over the last decade and has been implemented on numerous graphics devices of varying sophistication.
OpenGL is not backward-compatible with IRIS GL. OpenGL has removed dated IRIS GL functionality or replaced it with more general functionality. The routines and symbols comprising the OpenGL API have been named to avoid name space conflicts (all names start with either gl or GL_). The window system dependent portions of IRIS GL are not part of OpenGL. What has been preserved is the spirit of the API. OpenGL retains IRIS GL's ability to render 3D objects quickly and efficiently.
OpenGL has been proposed as a graphics standard to bring 3D graphics programming into the mainstream of applications programming. For this reason, the OpenGL ARB was formed. The ARB licenses OpenGL and directs further development. Currently, over 20 companies have licensed OpenGL and intend to release or have already released commercial implementations. Numerous universities have also licensed OpenGL.