SDL

Requires: a soundcard

Next , I had to upgrade my copy of SDL! SDL is the simple direct media layer, which is required for avifile. Basically, it's designed to give quick access to your video and audio devices ”so the sound is nice and the video plays back at a watchable speed. Like most of the packages, downloading, compiling, and installing it was simple. I grabbed libsdl-1.1.7, which was the most recent version, and went to compiling it. Thankfully, this was a plain, simple autoconf build, so there's no point in burdening you with the details.

Take note that SDL does require a soundcard. Since there aren't many machines without them these days, I'll assume you've already got one. SDL can also benefit from some hardware acceleration under Xfree86 4.0.1, so this may be a good enough reason for you to consider upgrading your X- windows installation. The compile took about 25 minutes on my K6/2-450. With SDL installed and ready to go, I could move on to the next piece.