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The RPi can run "normal" distributions in a sense, but all ARM boards need some degree of software customization because there is a lot less standardization in
by zhemao 12y ago
The RPi can run "normal" distributions in a sense, but all ARM boards need some degree of software customization because there is a lot less standardization in the interfaces to hardware peripherals. x86 CPUs have a standard interface called PCI with which they can dynamically probe what sort of peripherals are attached to them. ARM CPUs don't have such an interface, so connections to peripherals have to be configured in the kernel at compile-time.
- Nursie 12y agoWell aware of this! But once you have a distro with suitable kernel, again, why would you need a board-specific community?
- zhemao 12y agoThe kernel isn't the only thing. What about drivers? Getting random hardware peripherals to work with a single-board computer is not always straightforward. A larger community means there is more documentation out there on how to get things working.
- Nursie 12y agoBut once it's a peripheral the drivers are loaded as modules and it doesn't matter what the board is ... ? Sorry, just don't really get it. Been running debian on (mostly headless) ARM boards for about a decade now and I don't really grok why a community around a particular board is that useful. Once you have a system you have a system...