GL is the basic library.
GLU provides convenience functions, but it doesn't let you do anything
you couldn't do with GL. It is distributed together with GL.
GLUT provides functionality external to GL, like interfacing with the
windowing system. It is a third party library.
I don't know about the details of the development of GLUT, but I guess
it was meant mainly for simplicity and it is deemed to satisfy its
purpose well enough.
I am new in this list and I don't know how far OpenGL2 is.
Cheers,
Esteban.
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