FAQs: General
Contents
What is Simple DirectMedia Layer?
Very simply, Simple DirectMedia Layer, or SDL for short, is a library that allows you low level access to a video framebuffer, audio output, mouse, keyboard, and joysticks across a wide variety of operating systems.
What platforms are supported?
The current version supports Windows XP and newer, MacOS X 10.5+, Linux 2.6+, iOS 5.1.1+, and Android 2.3.3+. SDL includes code for other operating systems but they are not officially supported. See the page about Installation for the most recent list.
What is the latest version?
The latest stable version is 2.0. You can always get the very latest bleeding edge Mercurial snapshot, which may be broken at any given time, from the Mercurial page (http://www.libsdl.org/hg.php).
Where can I get it?
Where do I send questions / feedback?
You can send questions and feedback through an SDL forums/mailing list or using the Feedback form (above right).
Where do I send bug reports / patches?
You can submit bug reports and patches to the SDL bugzilla bug tracking system: https://bugzilla.libsdl.org/
Is there a mailing list?
There are several SDL related mailing lists depending on your level of interest, all available from: https://discourse.libsdl.org/ (and http://www.libsdl.org/mailing-list.php)
Is there a newsgroup?
The nice folks at gmane.org have provided a news <-> mail gateway for the main SDL developers mailing list. You can access this gateway via a newsreader at: news://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.sdl You can read messages (but not post) via web interface at: http://news.gmane.org/thread.php?group=gmane.comp.lib.sdl
Is there an IRC channel?
Yes, you can find people hanging out on the IRC server at irc.freenode.net on the channel #SDL
Is there an official logo?
Yes, the official SDL logo was created by Arne Claus, and is available here: http://www.libsdl.de/logo/ Several community contributed logo ideas are also available at that URL. You are welcome to use any of them, as well as any artwork on the SDL website, to represent Simple DirectMedia Layer.
I have a project that uses SDL, how do I add it to the SDL website?
If you have a project that you feel is ready for the general public, you can add it to the SDL website:
Create an account under the Site Actions menu on the SDL website (http://www.libsdl.org/index.php)