I checked into DirectFB a few years ago. Was trying to get the FLTK DirectFB port working with the latest version of DirectFB. The DirectFB project was active at the time, but could not get much help in the way of useful responses via the mailing lists. There are several versions of DirectFB. I think the latest version they were working on was supposed to work in conjunction with Wayland. Different versions were geared to different things. I ended up using an older version of the DirectFB library with patches from Debian ( https://packages.debian.org/jessie/libdirectfb-dev ). Couldn't even get DirectFB to build from source without the Debian patches.
I use DirectFB to run SDL and SDL2 in framebuffer mode. You can run SDL and SDL2 without DirectFB, but some applications built that way crash when run. So, it's easier (more stable) for me to run SDL using the DirectFB backend. I thought links used SDL as a backend. I remember building it at one point and using SDL with the build. Don't remember if it was the standard version or a modified version. Rogue Class Linux uses links with a SDL backend ( http://rogueclass.org/ ) and I believe I may have used the source code from there. Unfortunately, the Rogue Class Linux source repository is no longer available. The developer of the distribution is taking a break from programming for a while. You could probably still contact him and ask about it though. Searching links with SDL brings up this link: https://devel.dob.sk/links-sdl/ I'm sure some of the handheld devices use links with the SDL backend. So does Syllable desktop ( https://sites.google.com/site/syllablesoftware/internet-network/links ). I'd say running links with SDL is a good way to get it to work without requiring Xorg. You can use DirectFB or nano-x as backends for SDL or just run SDL directly via framebuffer. The nano-x project (formerly microwindows) is active and I correspond with the developer who took it over ( https://github.com/georgp24/microwindows-android-bin ). It works on a variety of platforms including Linux, ELKs, android (and I've even had some minor luck with a Windows port). However, the developer hasn't been very interested in the state of SDL support for nano-x. He's been more interested in FLTK, wxWidgets and earlier versions of GTK+. I've been porting several SDL 1.2.15 applications to SDL 2.x. So, if you have a version of links you like that's working with SDL 1.2.x, it isn't too hard to add support for SDL 2.x if you no longer want the older version of SDL on your system. You should definitely be able to get links running in framebuffer mode with SDL. I'd use SDL over SVGAlib. It's more actively supported/developed. I remember having issues with SVGAlib at some point, but don't remember the details. SDL was easier to get working. Whether you want to use DirectFB, nano-x or the framebuffer directly with SDL is up to you, but at least there are several options. Sincerely, Laura -- http://lists.linuxfromscratch.org/listinfo/blfs-support FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/faq.html Unsubscribe: See the above information page
