The main purpose of SDL is to provide a common framework for accessing these functions. SDL has the word "layer" in its title because it is actually a wrapper library with operating-system-specific functions. It is used by MPEG playback software, emulators, and many popular games, including the award winning Linux port of " Civilization: Call To Power". Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) is a cross-platform multimedia library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, 3D hardware via OpenGL, and 2D video Framebuffer. Wikipedia has related information at Simple DirectMedia Layer