Editing Linux framebuffer (section)

{{Short description|Abstraction layer for Linux kernel to show graphics on the system console}}
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{{primary sources|date=March 2011}}
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[[Image:KNOPPIX booting.png|thumb|[[Knoppix]] booting on the framebuffer]]

The [[framebuffer]] subsystem in the [[Linux kernel]] '''fbdev''' is used to show [[computer graphics|graphics]] on a [[computer monitor]], typically on the [[system console]].<ref>[https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/fb/framebuffer.txt The Frame Buffer Device, Linux Kernel Documentation]</ref>

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

In most applications, fbdev has been superseded by the Linux [[Direct Rendering Manager]] (DRM) subsystem, but as of 2022, several [[Device driver|drivers]] provide both DRM and fbdev APIs for backwards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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-FBDEV-2022-Maintainer | title=Developer Steps up Wanting to Maintain Linux's FBDEV Subsystem }}</ref>