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> The most robust way would be the embedded approach of two static flash partitions (update each one alternately), a separate partition for config, and another

> The most robust way would be the embedded approach of two static flash partitions (update each one alternately), a separate partition for config, and another for mutable state. Alas that's more development work than I want to do for personal projects. Just to let you know, this is the approach that balenaOS takes. Applications are containerized and deployed using Docker. The OS uses read-only system partitions to store the engine, kernel, firmware, etc, and has an A/B partition layout for resiliency and atomic updates. Applications are downloaded and stored on a separate data partition, and mutable configs are stored on another. The partition layout and a lot of how the OS functions is also well documented and public. [0] Additionally, the first ten devices are free and fully featured, and the same people that help create the product, including (but not limited to) engineers, monitor the forums to help users. I'm one of those engineers. :) [0]: https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/more/masterclasses/host-os-masterclass/ https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/more/masterclasses/host-os-...

mindslight 6y ago
> the first ten devices are free and fully featured Neat project, but this implies some sort of ongoing third party dependency/control that the devices would have, making it a non-starter for my use. The main reason I am using RPis as security cameras (for one use) is to avoid these type of security vulnerabilities.
- jakogut 6y ago
  We've thought of that too. :) There's OpenBalena for hosting your own device deployment and management server. https://www.balena.io/open/ https://www.balena.io/open/ It's self-hosted, which is a double-edged sword. You have to setup and maintain your own infrastructure, but you don't depend on a third party. For personal projects, it's probably the way to go. Additionally, devices can be moved between servers easily. If you decide to use the cloud hosted platform in the future, or move devices from cloud hosted to self-hosted, it's easy to do.
  - mindslight 6y ago
    That's awesome, and exactly the kind of thing I want to see from companies selling services! I'll be sure to check it out when I have a minute.
hhh 6y ago
There are a subset of use cases for the pi we work on that always seem to have posts on the Balena forums discussing, and the support that you all provide there is absolutely amazing. I don't know that I've encountered any official support that even comes close to what I see posted there. Thank you all for being awesome!
- jakogut 6y ago
  Thanks for the kind words! I've shared your feedback with the team.

mindslight 6y ago

> the first ten devices are free and fully featured Neat project, but this implies some sort of ongoing third party dependency/control that the devices would have, making it a non-starter for my use. The main reason I am using RPis as security cameras (for one use) is to avoid these type of security vulnerabilities.

jakogut 6y ago
We've thought of that too. :) There's OpenBalena for hosting your own device deployment and management server. https://www.balena.io/open/ https://www.balena.io/open/ It's self-hosted, which is a double-edged sword. You have to setup and maintain your own infrastructure, but you don't depend on a third party. For personal projects, it's probably the way to go. Additionally, devices can be moved between servers easily. If you decide to use the cloud hosted platform in the future, or move devices from cloud hosted to self-hosted, it's easy to do.
- mindslight 6y ago
  That's awesome, and exactly the kind of thing I want to see from companies selling services! I'll be sure to check it out when I have a minute.

hhh 6y ago

There are a subset of use cases for the pi we work on that always seem to have posts on the Balena forums discussing, and the support that you all provide there is absolutely amazing. I don't know that I've encountered any official support that even comes close to what I see posted there. Thank you all for being awesome!

jakogut 6y ago
Thanks for the kind words! I've shared your feedback with the team.