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> They sit in the awkward space where they're larger and faster than a microcontroller but practically speaking require an OS that wastes a lot of the available

> They sit in the awkward space where they're larger and faster than a microcontroller but practically speaking require an OS that wastes a lot of the available resources; for running Linux applications, they feel way underpowered. The Raspberry Pi isn't competing with a microcontroller. They're on opposite ends of the computing spectrum. If an application can be quickly developed and run on a microcontroller, using a full embedded Linux system would be overkill. As for Linux work: The Raspberry Pi 4 is plenty fast for most embedded applications. If you're trying to use it as a desktop replacement it's going to feel sluggish relative to an actual desktop, especially if you're only using an SD card instead of a USB3 SSD. However, it's generally not a problem for most non-desktop use cases. Compiling large projects is the only place where a Pi 4 starts to feel limited, but cross-compilation is available with plenty of guides online. If you have a situation that requires more power than a Pi 4, you should probably be using a real desktop or VM anyway. These are embedded systems that start at $35, not something competing with a $500 NUC or a $2000 laptop.

foxfluff 5y ago
> The Raspberry Pi isn't competing with a microcontroller. They're on opposite ends of the computing spectrum. The spectrum is wider than that, but if you're comparing Pi and MCUs, today you have 32 bit multi-core ARM microcontrollers that run at hundreds of MHz and make a 486 look wimpy. And for a microprocessor, the first gen Pi is pretty darn wimpy (wikipedia compares it to a 300MHz Pentium II). Yet the performance difference between a first gen Pi and a Pi 4 is absolutely massive. That's what I mean by the awkward space. Yes it's still faster than a high end microcontroller, but if I need an application running on modern Linux, chances are I don't want to deploy it on Pentium II class hardware except in very niche circumstances. So it's neither a microcontroller, nor is it a decent microprocessor for modern OS. It's about right in the middle of the spectrum where it kinda sucks for any application that can be implemented on a microcontroller and sucks for anything that needs a "real computer". I need to point out that I actually work as an embedded software developer in this space where we have high end microcontrollers running a custom RTOS and applications that offer largely the same functionality and interfaces that we also implement using low end Linux-capable ARM solutions; what you can implement on a microcontroller is a heck of a lot, but Linux capable chips have gotten cheap and using them sometimes saves development effort on the driver & application stack. There's plenty of overlap, they're totally not opposite ends of the spectrum.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  > very niche circumstances Which happens to be exactly where the pi excels. I'm currently writing an application to record my homebrew information and also capture basic sensor data. A PC + arduino/sensor platform would be overkill and an ESP8266/ESP32 would slow me down. Pi 2B running PHP? Perfect.
- huachimingo 5y ago
  There are some game servers implemented using RPi, specially in open source games.
- dsr_ 5y ago
  In end-user space, Pi has a bunch of good niches: * There's an application that runs on Linux already and you want a cheap way of running it in a small space -- like a shairport-sync audio client feeding a local music system, or a web-connected clock/calendar/tasklist/notification. * Very low cost, replaceable desktop for a kiosk, a classroom, whatever where it will run either simple office applications or be mostly a web terminal. (If you just want low cost, a used laptop might be a better value -- but if you need to be able to repeat and/or replace it, a Pi is better). * Friendly target for someone who doesn't really understand embedded systems and will be tinkering for a long time.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
    The first product I ever shipped with a Pi was a controller that needed a nice UI and some data storage. For a one-off, the $35 cost for a Pi2 probably saved at least $1,000 in dev cost than if I were to throw a microcontroller at the problem.

foxfluff 5y ago

> The Raspberry Pi isn't competing with a microcontroller. They're on opposite ends of the computing spectrum. The spectrum is wider than that, but if you're comparing Pi and MCUs, today you have 32 bit multi-core ARM microcontrollers that run at hundreds of MHz and make a 486 look wimpy. And for a microprocessor, the first gen Pi is pretty darn wimpy (wikipedia compares it to a 300MHz Pentium II). Yet the performance difference between a first gen Pi and a Pi 4 is absolutely massive. That's what I mean by the awkward space. Yes it's still faster than a high end microcontroller, but if I need an application running on modern Linux, chances are I don't want to deploy it on Pentium II class hardware except in very niche circumstances. So it's neither a microcontroller, nor is it a decent microprocessor for modern OS. It's about right in the middle of the spectrum where it kinda sucks for any application that can be implemented on a microcontroller and sucks for anything that needs a "real computer". I need to point out that I actually work as an embedded software developer in this space where we have high end microcontrollers running a custom RTOS and applications that offer largely the same functionality and interfaces that we also implement using low end Linux-capable ARM solutions; what you can implement on a microcontroller is a heck of a lot, but Linux capable chips have gotten cheap and using them sometimes saves development effort on the driver & application stack. There's plenty of overlap, they're totally not opposite ends of the spectrum.

HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
> very niche circumstances Which happens to be exactly where the pi excels. I'm currently writing an application to record my homebrew information and also capture basic sensor data. A PC + arduino/sensor platform would be overkill and an ESP8266/ESP32 would slow me down. Pi 2B running PHP? Perfect.
huachimingo 5y ago
There are some game servers implemented using RPi, specially in open source games.
dsr_ 5y ago
In end-user space, Pi has a bunch of good niches: * There's an application that runs on Linux already and you want a cheap way of running it in a small space -- like a shairport-sync audio client feeding a local music system, or a web-connected clock/calendar/tasklist/notification. * Very low cost, replaceable desktop for a kiosk, a classroom, whatever where it will run either simple office applications or be mostly a web terminal. (If you just want low cost, a used laptop might be a better value -- but if you need to be able to repeat and/or replace it, a Pi is better). * Friendly target for someone who doesn't really understand embedded systems and will be tinkering for a long time.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  The first product I ever shipped with a Pi was a controller that needed a nice UI and some data storage. For a one-off, the $35 cost for a Pi2 probably saved at least $1,000 in dev cost than if I were to throw a microcontroller at the problem.