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I think you're conflating 'general purpose computing' with multitasking or multifunction devices. PiHole exists precisely because the Pi is a general-purpose c

I think you're conflating 'general purpose computing' with multitasking or multifunction devices. PiHole exists precisely because the Pi is a general-purpose computing device: it uses a relatively stock operating system and network stack to perform its task. Its competition here is not a desktop computer, it's a bespoke network appliance with custom hardware/firmware manufactured by somebody like Cisco. What you lament is that so many of our "PC" systems seem to have wasted processing potential, but I think this is optimizing along the wrong axis. Sure, my desktop PC could run a home DNS server without breaking a sweat, but my desktop PC is not on all the time. Even the idle power draw from the ATX power supply likely outweighs the full-throttle power usage of a Pi-equivalent device. Home computing (PiHoles, routers, and "smart home" devices) are a devolution of computing to commodity status in the same way that the PC was a devolution away from a mainframe-and-terminal environment. I think further progression along this axis is inevitable, and we should welcome entries like the Pi or this VoCore that keep the ethic of hackable, general-purpose computing even in a commodity footprint.

catern 4y ago
>What you lament is that so many of our "PC" systems seem to have wasted processing potential That's not my lament. I don't care at all about not wasting processing power. I care about the fact that it's so difficult for people to use their existing computers in ways that were not intended by their manufacturers, that even technically adept people will just buy a new computer rather than deal with it. It should be easy to install some new software on any of your computers (router or desktop or TV or phone or whatever) and have it do some useful new thing. But it's not.
- Majromax 4y ago
  > It should be easy to install some new software on any of your computers (router or desktop or TV or phone or whatever) and have it do some useful new thing. But it's not. I disagree. I don't think it's difficult for compute-related tasks (gpio now, that I'll grant). However, installing this sort of think on a desktop PC is more likely to be bespoke just because of the near-infinite range of user configurations and customizations. The PiHole works as well as it does because it's a uniform base without being a walled garden.

catern 4y ago

>What you lament is that so many of our "PC" systems seem to have wasted processing potential That's not my lament. I don't care at all about not wasting processing power. I care about the fact that it's so difficult for people to use their existing computers in ways that were not intended by their manufacturers, that even technically adept people will just buy a new computer rather than deal with it. It should be easy to install some new software on any of your computers (router or desktop or TV or phone or whatever) and have it do some useful new thing. But it's not.

Majromax 4y ago
> It should be easy to install some new software on any of your computers (router or desktop or TV or phone or whatever) and have it do some useful new thing. But it's not. I disagree. I don't think it's difficult for compute-related tasks (gpio now, that I'll grant). However, installing this sort of think on a desktop PC is more likely to be bespoke just because of the near-infinite range of user configurations and customizations. The PiHole works as well as it does because it's a uniform base without being a walled garden.