3 ms·

Are people really looking to RPi for performance though? Surely the appeal is that it’s good enough, open enough and has a bunch of peripherals and stuff you ca

by smcl 3y ago

Are people really looking to RPi for performance though? Surely the appeal is that it’s good enough, open enough and has a bunch of peripherals and stuff you can tinker with. Or maybe I’m out of touch (obligatory: no it’s the kids… etc)

ddingus 3y ago
Increasingly yes. I am in that group now. Basically, my hobby development has moved to Raspi machines. I use a 400 as my primary station and various 3 and 4 models to do projects with. One very nice thing is to package everything up with a Pi and have that project be self-contained. Dev tools, I/O whatever all nice and compact. Start another project? Just setup another Pi and go. Having a higher performance model means moving more of what I do onto a Pi. Things like VS Code run reasonably, but not great. On the 4, many things are close to great. The 5 appears capable enough to change that equation. Nice!
- smcl 3y ago
  Fair play then. I genuinely thought it was just a little dev/experiment/prototype platform for people, as it was for me. If this is what you need then god speed!
  - ddingus 3y ago
    It is often that, so fair on your part too. What I have seen happen is people basically get going on Raspian and start to like it. Myself, I have used UNIX flavors since SGI IRIX and I find Raspian simple, well supported and easy to use. A fast Pi, plus a solid load of OSS packs quite a punch! Dev tools for many languages. Open, Libre Office and friends suddenly makes for a very cheap, effective desktop one can use to get a whole lot done. Anyone inclined to work with OSS can grab one of these little Pi computers can do a lot. I use them that way frequently.
bmicraft 3y ago
If you don't want more performance, you can still by older and much cheaper models like the zero 2w for a quarter the price
mbirth 3y ago
Even compared to a SFF PC, a Pi takes up basically no space and works great with a passive cooler. And you can run it from a battery pack and thus develop on it using your tablet while at your favourite Starbucks.

by smcl 3y ago

ddingus 3y ago

Increasingly yes. I am in that group now. Basically, my hobby development has moved to Raspi machines. I use a 400 as my primary station and various 3 and 4 models to do projects with. One very nice thing is to package everything up with a Pi and have that project be self-contained. Dev tools, I/O whatever all nice and compact. Start another project? Just setup another Pi and go. Having a higher performance model means moving more of what I do onto a Pi. Things like VS Code run reasonably, but not great. On the 4, many things are close to great. The 5 appears capable enough to change that equation. Nice!

smcl 3y ago
Fair play then. I genuinely thought it was just a little dev/experiment/prototype platform for people, as it was for me. If this is what you need then god speed!
- ddingus 3y ago
  It is often that, so fair on your part too. What I have seen happen is people basically get going on Raspian and start to like it. Myself, I have used UNIX flavors since SGI IRIX and I find Raspian simple, well supported and easy to use. A fast Pi, plus a solid load of OSS packs quite a punch! Dev tools for many languages. Open, Libre Office and friends suddenly makes for a very cheap, effective desktop one can use to get a whole lot done. Anyone inclined to work with OSS can grab one of these little Pi computers can do a lot. I use them that way frequently.

bmicraft 3y ago

If you don't want more performance, you can still by older and much cheaper models like the zero 2w for a quarter the price

mbirth 3y ago

Even compared to a SFF PC, a Pi takes up basically no space and works great with a passive cooler. And you can run it from a battery pack and thus develop on it using your tablet while at your favourite Starbucks.