Introduction to SDL Download location (HTTP): Download location (FTP): Version used: &SDL-version; Package size: &SDL-size; Estimated Disk space required: &SDL-buildsize; The Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL for short) is a cross-platform library designed to make it easy to write multimedia software, such as games and emulators. SDL will utilize oss, alsa, esd, arts, nas, nasm, x11 and directfb by default if installed prior to SDL.