Linux framebuffer

[1] It was designed as a hardware-independent API to give user space software access to the framebuffer (the part of a computer's video memory containing a current video frame) using only the Linux kernel's own basic facilities and its device file system interface, avoiding the need for libraries like SVGAlib which effectively implemented video drivers in user space.

In most applications, fbdev has been superseded by the Linux Direct Rendering Manager subsystem, but as of 2022, several drivers provide both DRM and fbdev APIs for backwards compatibility with software that has not been updated to use the DRM system, and there are still fbdev drivers for older (mostly embedded) hardware that does not have a DRM driver.

[2] There are three applications of the Linux framebuffer: Examples of the third application include Linux programs such as MPlayer, links2, NetSurf, w3m, fbff,[3] fbida,[4] and fim,[5] and libraries such as GLUT, SDL (version 1.2), GTK, and Qt, which can all use the framebuffer directly.

The now defunct[7] DirectFB is another project aimed at providing a framework for hardware acceleration of the Linux framebuffer.

[9] It was originally implemented to allow the kernel to emulate a text console on systems such as the Apple Macintosh that do not have a text-mode display, and was later expanded to the IBM PC compatible platform.