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/!\ this page is a draft == Can I put Debian on my Rasberry Pi? ==
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The Raspberry Pi is a device with several issues that we recommend you do not buy. Instead, please consider one of these devices: Yes.

[[http://wiki.debian.org/ArmHardFloatPort|Debian armhf]] will not work (see below). [[http://wiki.debian.org/ArmEabiPort|Debian armel]] will, but will not make best use of the floating point hardware.

Your best bet is to use [[http://www.raspbian.org/|Raspbian]] - which is Debian armhf rebuilt for the RPi's ARMv6+VFP2 ARM variant.

== Should I buy a Rasberry Pi ==

There are issues with the Raspberry Pi which means Debian does not recommend it (below). Despite the hype it is a more closed platform than many other things you could buy, and the unusual hardware can be problematic too. We suggest considering one of the many devices in the Freedombox list, or some of the other low-level development boards listed if hardware hacking is your focus
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 * <insert more lists of suitable hardware>  * [[http://cubieboard.org/|Cubieboard]] Allwinner A10 (Cortex A8, Mali400), $49 (most directly Pi-alike)
 * [[https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A13/A13-OLinuXino-WIFI/|Olimex OLinuxO WIFI]] Cortex A8, €55
 * [[http://rhombus-tech.net/|EOMA68 modules]] (Sampling March 2013, so not in full production yet), Allwinner A10 (Cortex A8, Mali400)
 * [[http://beagleboard.org/bone|Beaglebone]] omap3, €73, $89
 * [[https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/iMX233/iMX233-OLinuXino-MINI/|OlinuxO Mini]] imx233 (ARM926, i.e Debian armel), €35
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The Raspberry Pi issues include issues related to technical problems, software freedom and hype: If you really need the hardware-hacking aspect but not full-blown linux, and favour ARM, then these cortex-based MCU boards are worth a look
 * [[http://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy3.html|Teensy]] Cortex M4, $19
 * [[http://www.brc-electronics.nl/|Simplecortex]] Cortex M3, $45
 * [[http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=FRDM-K20D50M|Freescale Kinetsis K20]] Cortex M3, £14
 * [[http://leaflabs.com/|Maple]] Cortex M3, $35
 * [[http://hackaday.com/2012/10/03/finally-an-arm-powered-arduino/|Arduino Due]] Cortex M3, $50
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 * The CPU in the Raspberry Pi implements the ARMv6 ISA and is thus incompatible with the Debian armhf port (and ARM hardware floating-point ports for other distributions), which means that floating-point tasks will be slow when running the Debian armel port.
 * The Raspberry Pi boots from its GPU and only non-free software is currently available for the GPU, even starting the machine requires a large blob of non-free, unsupportable software.
 * The 3D driver for the Raspberry Pi, while free software, is just a shim that passes OpenGL commands directly to the non-free software running on the GPU. This means that any issues with OpenGL cannot be fixed nor performance improved.
List compiled March 2013, no doubt many more will be along soon. As you can see there are plenty of things more open, cheaper and more standard than Rasberry Pi's, and which don't misrepresent themselves.

== Raspberry Pi issues ==

The Raspberry Pi issues relate to technical problems, software freedom and hype:

* The CPU in the Raspberry Pi implements the ARMv6 ISA (with VFP2) and is thus incompatible with the Debian armhf port baseline of ARMv7+VFP3 (and ARM hardware-floating-point ports for other distributions, which all have the same basline). It is compatible with Debian armhf (armv4t, soft(emulated) FP), (but floating-point tasks will be slow when running the Debian armel port).
 * The Raspberry Pi boots from its GPU and only non-free software is currently available for the GPU, even starting the machine requires a large (2MB) blob of non-free, unsupportable software.
 * The 3D driver for the Raspberry Pi, while free software, is just a shim that passes OpenGL commands directly to the non-free software running on the GPU. This means that any issues with OpenGL cannot be fixed nor performance improved. This is better than some other GPUs because the ARM part can be rebuilt, but claims were made for this 'first Open Source ARM GPU driver' on its release, far beyond the actual functionality/openness.
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 * <insert more issues>

If you have already bought a Raspberry Pi and still want to use it, we suggest that you run [[http://www.raspbian.org/|Raspbian]] armhf on it rather than Debian armel. Raspbian armhf is a recompilation of Debian armhf that is compatible with the Raspberry Pi CPU.

Can I put Debian on my Rasberry Pi?

Yes.

Debian armhf will not work (see below). Debian armel will, but will not make best use of the floating point hardware.

Your best bet is to use Raspbian - which is Debian armhf rebuilt for the RPi's ARMv6+VFP2 ARM variant.

Should I buy a Rasberry Pi

There are issues with the Raspberry Pi which means Debian does not recommend it (below). Despite the hype it is a more closed platform than many other things you could buy, and the unusual hardware can be problematic too. We suggest considering one of the many devices in the Freedombox list, or some of the other low-level development boards listed if hardware hacking is your focus

If you really need the hardware-hacking aspect but not full-blown linux, and favour ARM, then these cortex-based MCU boards are worth a look

List compiled March 2013, no doubt many more will be along soon. As you can see there are plenty of things more open, cheaper and more standard than Rasberry Pi's, and which don't misrepresent themselves.

Raspberry Pi issues

The Raspberry Pi issues relate to technical problems, software freedom and hype:

  • The CPU in the Raspberry Pi implements the ARMv6 ISA (with VFP2) and is thus incompatible with the Debian armhf port baseline of ARMv7+VFP3 (and ARM hardware-floating-point ports for other distributions, which all have the same basline). It is compatible with Debian armhf (armv4t, soft(emulated) FP), (but floating-point tasks will be slow when running the Debian armel port).
  • The Raspberry Pi boots from its GPU and only non-free software is currently available for the GPU, even starting the machine requires a large (2MB) blob of non-free, unsupportable software.
  • The 3D driver for the Raspberry Pi, while free software, is just a shim that passes OpenGL commands directly to the non-free software running on the GPU. This means that any issues with OpenGL cannot be fixed nor performance improved. This is better than some other GPUs because the ARM part can be rebuilt, but claims were made for this 'first Open Source ARM GPU driver' on its release, far beyond the actual functionality/openness.
  • The Raspberry Pi has been hyped as an educational device but is not fit for that purpose.