What is RGB?

[roconnor theorem ca]

This is my first attempt at working with Gnome code.  The task I'm trying
to do is to make a reasonably nice smooth gradient between two colours.
I'll probably want to do this in CIELAB space, or at the very least in
some linear RGB colour space by doing some gamma correction.

In either case I would like to know what GdkColor represents?  At first
glance it is more or less the raw R'G'B' values sent to the graphics card,
which means that it is non-linear RGB.

Presumably what I want to do is assume that this is sRGB space, and use
the sRGB gamma correction functions.  But I thought I'd ask here to see if
there is anything I'm missing.  There are a lot of layers between the
colour I specify in GdkColor and what gets put on the screen, and I
haven't been able to find much specific documentation on what the RGB
values mean.

-- 
Russell O'Connor                <http://math.berkeley.edu/~roconnor/>
                Work to ensure that Iraq is run by Iraqis.