The GNU/Linux graphics stack is complex, so much so that explaining all the layers and elements involved is difficult. The Linux graphics system works, but it's far from simple. You've probably already heard of some of its components, such as graphics drivers, DRM, KMS, FBDEV, etc., not to mention the OpenGL graphics API and other APIs, as well as the server-side graphical environment, and so on.
Well, there's something called framebuffer or fbdev , drivers that provide a minimal graphical system in the Linux terminal, relying more on the graphics card you're using and before you have more specific graphics drivers. Without going into too much detail, this system is somewhat outdated, but it might still be useful in some cases. Undoubtedly, development activity in this area has been minimal in recent years.
Developers aren't contributing to this element, and as I mentioned, there are alternatives that are gaining momentum, such as DRM . This system fulfills the functionalities of fbdev for modern graphics systems and is even capable of completely simulating fbdev's operation. Therefore, there is redundancy in the Linux kernel in this regard, and it's the focus of some criticism and calls for the removal of the old fbdev from the kernel. One of these voices is that of Tomi Valkeinen from Texas Instruments…
Tomi has reignited this discussion and again proposed getting rid of the old drivers, something that wouldn't mean any loss of functionality since they have DRM (by the way, not to be confused with Digital Rights Management, as it stands for Direct Rendering Manager). At the kernel development level, removing fbdev would mean eliminating around 31.000 lines of code, lightening the kernel. Certainly not insignificant. What will they do?