SVGAlib is an open-source low-level graphics library which runs on Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 and FreeBSD

FreeBSD

FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...

 and allows programs to change video mode and display full-screen graphics. Some popular games like Quake and Doom used it in their original releases.

The library was popular in mid-1990s. Toward 2000, many applications that used it migrated to X11

X Window System

The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...

 and SDL

Simple DirectMedia Layer

Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform, free and open source multimedia library written in C that presents a simple interface to various platforms' graphics, sound, and input devices....

, which itself can make use of SVGAlib as a video driver.

A sample of SVGAlib code is shown below.

1. include
2. include
3. include

int main(void)
{
int color = 4;
int x = 10;
int y = 10;
unsigned int seconds = 5;

/* detect the chipset and give up supervisor rights */
if (vga_init < 0)
return EXIT_FAILURE;

vga_setmode(G320x200x256);
vga_setcolor(color);
vga_drawpixel(x, y);

sleep(seconds);

/* restore textmode and fall back to ordinary text console handling */
vga_setmode(TEXT);

return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

External links

• SVGAlib
• svgalib windows