Topic: write to simple two line LCD ?

I have not got my board yet but I am looking for some guidance or docs on using the LCD.  I  understand that you can get a console via the serial cable and also via SSH.   I have read that then you can use the video out or the LCD or VGA but not all 3 by making some settings chage somewhere (where ?). I am fuzzy on that, do all three show up as linux devices ?  If I want to simply write to a two line LCD character display is there a device driver for that writes to LCD pinout header or do I need to create my own drivers based on whichever LCD I buy ?  For VGA and Composite video, I assume those show up as normal tty devices to write to ?

Thanks if someone could offer me some hints on writing from a C app to these outputs.

Dave