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BananaPi, OrangePi, Odroid, NanoPi, Radxa would be some of the more well-known names. If you just need "something that runs Linux" pretty much everything quali

by detaro 3y ago

BananaPi, OrangePi, Odroid, NanoPi, Radxa would be some of the more well-known names. If you just need "something that runs Linux" pretty much everything qualifies, if you have more specific needs it comes down to comparing in detail... On the other hand, you can also find things serving needs that Pis don't cover so well (e.g. multiple Ethernet interfaces, SATA, ...)

tjoff 3y ago
> OP links the Banana Pi M5, VIM1s, Odroid C4, Rock 3A, and the Orange Pi 5 4GB as potential alternatives, but the hardware is not the problem, it's the software support and the community. I'm curious if you've found any SBCs out there that might be viable alternatives to the Raspberry Pi ecosystem. From the linked Ask HN. Hardware is irrelevant if the software isn't comparable. I'd like to be proven wrong but if nothing has changed in the last years there are no real alternatives to the Pi.
- andrewstuart 3y ago
  Depends on your use case. Ex lease mini desktop Dell/Hp/Lenovo Intel machines off eBay can be good, and first class Linux support, and cheaper than raspberry pi. Some applications can be replaced with a microcontroller like esp32 which has excellent software support. Many of the machines above have pretty average Linux support but it seems to be improving, depends on your application.
- detaro 3y ago
  If by "software support" you mean "people provide ready-made SD card images with project X already installed", then yes, no alternative to the Pi. If you mean "gives me a standard linux distro I can install software on that can talk to the network and maybe show a UI on a screen", pretty much anything works (and a lot of things people do with Pis are just that - running things like network-wide adblockers, 3D printer servers, small python scripts for whatever). If it's somewhere in between, it again depends. E.g. if I wanted a MIPI camera, I'd probably track down a RPi and use that unless I could find someone documenting a precise setup on something else.
  - tjoff 3y ago
    If step 1 is to spend 30 hours researching the state of linux for each of the alternatives that makes them dead on arrival and a complete waste of time and money in my mind.
    - detaro 3y ago
      If it takes you 30 hours it is indeed a good deal to pay scalper-prices for an RPi instead.
      - tjoff 3y ago
        Probably much quicker for most people, and then they end up having to debug it to death. And yes, that includes pretty much any alternative mentioned here.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
    What I mean is "is this thing either running mainline linux or supported well enough that I'll still be getting kernel updates in 5 years".
Maakuth 3y ago
Is some of these a product that runs on mainline Linux? I feel like a device that only runs a kernel with weird vendor patches is going to be stuck on that kernel, which might be a problem for software support going forward. And will certainly be a problem from security point of view.
- ThatPlayer 3y ago
  Pine64 aims to get their boards (and phones) working on mainline Linux. And their work applies to other boards using the same SoC, so for example the Rockchip RK3399 used in the Pinephone Pro and the Orange Pi 4 both run mainline.
jacooper 3y ago
The issue is mainline Linux support, most of these aren't supported by the vanilla Linux kernel.

by detaro 3y ago

tjoff 3y ago

> OP links the Banana Pi M5, VIM1s, Odroid C4, Rock 3A, and the Orange Pi 5 4GB as potential alternatives, but the hardware is not the problem, it's the software support and the community. I'm curious if you've found any SBCs out there that might be viable alternatives to the Raspberry Pi ecosystem. From the linked Ask HN. Hardware is irrelevant if the software isn't comparable. I'd like to be proven wrong but if nothing has changed in the last years there are no real alternatives to the Pi.

andrewstuart 3y ago
Depends on your use case. Ex lease mini desktop Dell/Hp/Lenovo Intel machines off eBay can be good, and first class Linux support, and cheaper than raspberry pi. Some applications can be replaced with a microcontroller like esp32 which has excellent software support. Many of the machines above have pretty average Linux support but it seems to be improving, depends on your application.
detaro 3y ago
If by "software support" you mean "people provide ready-made SD card images with project X already installed", then yes, no alternative to the Pi. If you mean "gives me a standard linux distro I can install software on that can talk to the network and maybe show a UI on a screen", pretty much anything works (and a lot of things people do with Pis are just that - running things like network-wide adblockers, 3D printer servers, small python scripts for whatever). If it's somewhere in between, it again depends. E.g. if I wanted a MIPI camera, I'd probably track down a RPi and use that unless I could find someone documenting a precise setup on something else.
- tjoff 3y ago
  If step 1 is to spend 30 hours researching the state of linux for each of the alternatives that makes them dead on arrival and a complete waste of time and money in my mind.
  - detaro 3y ago
    If it takes you 30 hours it is indeed a good deal to pay scalper-prices for an RPi instead.
    - tjoff 3y ago
      Probably much quicker for most people, and then they end up having to debug it to death. And yes, that includes pretty much any alternative mentioned here.
- yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
  What I mean is "is this thing either running mainline linux or supported well enough that I'll still be getting kernel updates in 5 years".

Maakuth 3y ago

Is some of these a product that runs on mainline Linux? I feel like a device that only runs a kernel with weird vendor patches is going to be stuck on that kernel, which might be a problem for software support going forward. And will certainly be a problem from security point of view.

ThatPlayer 3y ago
Pine64 aims to get their boards (and phones) working on mainline Linux. And their work applies to other boards using the same SoC, so for example the Rockchip RK3399 used in the Pinephone Pro and the Orange Pi 4 both run mainline.

jacooper 3y ago

The issue is mainline Linux support, most of these aren't supported by the vanilla Linux kernel.