A curated list of awesome resources for the Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is an infamous low-cost Single Board Computer (SBC) that has reduced the barrier of entry for computing and tinkering. The Raspberry Pi is in a compact form factor (about the size of a credit card).
The Raspberry Pi is one of the most well supported SBCs on the market.
Images written to SD cards are the quickest way to get running on a Raspberry Pi. There are a large number of images available:
- Lightweight - Focused on being small/thin/lightweight and optimized, allowing you to dedicate more system resources to your specific applications.
- Full - Provides entire operation system and desktop UI.
- Specialized - Customized distributions focusing on particular applications or purposes.
| OS | Difficulty | Base Install Size | Runtime Memory Footprint | Image | Setup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arch Linux ARM A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple. |
Medium | - | - | Download | Setup |
| Armbian Distribution and build system specialized for single board computers. |
Low | 500 Mb | - | Download | Setup |
| Alpine Linux A security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and Busybox. |
Medium | 130 MB | - | Download | Setup |
| Crux ARM CRUX ARM is a lightweight Linux distribution for the ARM architecture targeted at experienced Linux users. |
High | 81 MB | - | Download | Setup |
| DietPi Highly optimized minimal Debian OS. |
Low | 400 MB | - | Download | Setup |
| piCore The Core Project is a highly modular based system with community build extensions. |
High | 35 MB | - | Download | Setup |
| Raspbian Lite Raspbian without the graphical desktop, based on Debian. |
Low | 1.2 GB | - | Download | Setup |
| ReceiverOS A highly optimized Debian-based operating system focused on radio applications, properly multi-platform capable by harnassing Armbian's build system. |
Low | 800 MB | - | Download | Setup |
| Ubuntu Core A lean, strictly confined and fully transactional operating system for IoT. |
Medium | - | - | Download | Setup |
- Android Things - Android Things lets you experiment with building smart, connected device applications.
- Armbian - Ubuntu or Debian packages, 64bit, for Rpi 3 or more recent, CLI and various desktop variants.
- FedBerry - A Fedora Remix specifically built for use with Raspberry Pi® 2/3 Model B computers.
- Gentoo Linux - Flexible Linux based Raspberry Pi OS and uses Portage software management to increases security and streamlines performance.
- Raspbian
- RISC OS - A fast and easily customised operating system for ARM devices (non-Linux).
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server - SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for Arm is an enterprise-grade Linux distribution that is optimized for unique 64-bit Arm chip capabilities.
- Ubuntu
- Ubuntu MATE - Ubuntu MATE for the Raspberry Pi provides a complete, familiar, desktop environment that can be used for basic desktop computing.
- Windows IoT Core
- Kali Linux - Linux distribution largely focused on security and pentesting.
- LibreELEC - A lightweight ‘Just enough OS’ Linux distribution purpose-built for Kodi on current and popular mediacentre hardware.
- OctoPi - Manage and control 3D printers.
- OpenElec - A small Linux based Just Enough Operating System (JeOS) built from scratch as a platform to turn your computer into a Kodi media center.
- OpenMediaVault - The next generation network attached storage (NAS) solution based on Debian Linux. It contains services like SSH, (S)FTP, SMB/CIFS, DAAP media server, RSync, BitTorrent client and many more.
- OpenWrt - Linux-based open source wireless router with extensibility.
- OSMC - A free and open source media center built for the people, by the people.
- pi-TopOS - A focus on programming and gaming, intended for the pi-Top, but works on any Raspberry Pi.
- PiNet - Centralized user accounts and file storage system for a Raspberry Pi classroom.
- RaspiBlitz - Run a full Lightning Node.
- RetroPie - Turn your Raspberry Pi into a retro-gaming machine, based on Raspbian.
- ROKOS - Bitcoin full node.