I'm looking to purchase a Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) for personal use and I'm looking for anyone who has had experiences with programming to a similar device in linux. My question is not specific to a VFD, it can include LCD or similar, but linux is my target platform.
I have a good programming background in C and I'm looking to get at the device to start playing around with how these things work. So any devices I choose would ultimately have an API that I can use instead of a provided GUI for writing things to the display (although having the latter is not a problem).
Basically, what do I need as a 'starter kit' to get me going and what should I be aware of if anything.
Thanks in advance for any input.
(Note: I originally posted on superuser, but it was suggested that I move the question here)