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Before the Pi ... The first ARM-based device for Linux that I remember getting big was the Sheevaplug. It was an ARM-based "plug computer" with an SD card slo

Before the Pi ... The first ARM-based device for Linux that I remember getting big was the Sheevaplug. It was an ARM-based "plug computer" with an SD card slot, a USB port IIRC, serial/JTAG port, Ethernet, Wifi, and no display. I had its next generation, the Guruplug, which had 2 Ethernet ports, Bluetooth, and a couple USB ports. Used it as a router for a few years. I don't know how long Debian's arm distro was around before then but that was my goto for the Guruplug. Worked great.

jay-anderson 6y ago
I still have my sheevaplug. It was great to have a small self-contained computer at the time. The raspberry pi definitely fills that spot today, but it isn't a full self-contained package like the sheevaplug was (for the pi you need to figure out the case and power).
- holri 6y ago
  There is Olimex homer server: https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/Home-Server/open-source-hardware https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/Home-Server/open-s... Fully contained package for a small home server, Free Hardware Design, SATA
GloriousKoji 6y ago
Although not an ARM device, the old Linksys Wrt54G (2002) was the first device to really get hackers interested and building a community around embedded Linux computing. There were other things but it was really the only one that was affordable and network connected. Later on the Linksys NSLU2 (2004, a network USB hard drive adapter) came out and was the first ARM based "computer" to really catch on. The custom firmware and optware offered a pretty good posix experience. It wasn't until 2008 when debian support came out, give the world a fully modern Linux experience on a little embedded device. After that companies started seeing a niche market and programmers accepted the challenge of installing linux on everything and we got things like the Sheeva Plug and BeagleBoard. A few years later the Raspberry Pi came out with an unbeatable price and community support. And then a decade later we're getting hints of the possibility of ARM computers with true workstation level of computing power.

jay-anderson 6y ago

I still have my sheevaplug. It was great to have a small self-contained computer at the time. The raspberry pi definitely fills that spot today, but it isn't a full self-contained package like the sheevaplug was (for the pi you need to figure out the case and power).

holri 6y ago
There is Olimex homer server: https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/Home-Server/open-source-hardware https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/Home-Server/open-s... Fully contained package for a small home server, Free Hardware Design, SATA

GloriousKoji 6y ago

Although not an ARM device, the old Linksys Wrt54G (2002) was the first device to really get hackers interested and building a community around embedded Linux computing. There were other things but it was really the only one that was affordable and network connected. Later on the Linksys NSLU2 (2004, a network USB hard drive adapter) came out and was the first ARM based "computer" to really catch on. The custom firmware and optware offered a pretty good posix experience. It wasn't until 2008 when debian support came out, give the world a fully modern Linux experience on a little embedded device. After that companies started seeing a niche market and programmers accepted the challenge of installing linux on everything and we got things like the Sheeva Plug and BeagleBoard. A few years later the Raspberry Pi came out with an unbeatable price and community support. And then a decade later we're getting hints of the possibility of ARM computers with true workstation level of computing power.