LWN: Comments on "Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer (ZDNet)"

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

ssmith32 — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 07:09:09 +0000

It can still be a useful endorsement thought. Tolkien brings to mind this quote about Dune:

'I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings’
-Arthur C Clarke

Tolkien was the better writer, but, still, a useful assessment, from a fairly credible source on the topic ;)

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

zlynx — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:51:02 +0000

From about '98 to 2005 I ran a web server, file server, proxy server, VPN tunnel server and router off of a dual Pentium 166 with 128 MB RAM. Worked great. That machine is still in my closet and I bet it would still boot up.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

jberkus — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 00:10:51 +0000

Back in the 90's, I ran a web business off Solaris servers with a similar spec to this. Well, except they had disks.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

eduperez — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 10:58:17 +0000

Yes, I also think this is more closer to a ESP8266 or ESP32 than to a Raspberry.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

bronson — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 22:35:19 +0000

Agreed, the RAM could work. It's the 8MB flash storage that limits you to specialized distros.

You might be able to chain boot into a more general distro if you can figure out how to attach more storage, but that sounds pretty tricky.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

drag — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 21:55:44 +0000

64MB should be enough to run a Linux distributions, provided you just restrict yourself to some command line stuff.

They won't generally work out of the box though, especially the ones that don't provide compatible binaries. Ones that do, however, you could build a very minimal environment using their binaries on another machine, transfer it over, and it probably can be made to work.

It would likely better, though, just with a simple custom install using busybox.

I could see these things being used in less-brain-dead 'IoT' DIY projects for home automation. It's not just the price, but also the form factor that makes them interesting for nitch things. PowerOverEthernet may be attractive to people with a aversion to wifi and batteries.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

jengelh — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 15:08:28 +0000

People tend to forget that the real cost is on the human resource which has to make it work. If you only have VoCore connectors, you need time to solder. The RPi on the other hand is plug (SD)-and-play, more or less. Only to a certain level of course. The picture goes on across all sizes of hardware - which is why IBM z remains a sellable item as of yet.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

risimmonsuk — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 13:42:06 +0000

People comparing this to Pi Zero should note that the MT7688 has wifi and ethernet support built in (it essentially started life as a router chip). It even supports multiple ethernet ports on-chip - though it doesn't look as though that functionality is easily available in this case. But yes, less RAM, no GPU. Which is better will depend on your application.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

misc — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 13:24:27 +0000

What I ave in mind is stuff like JIT for eBPF, or the fact that stuff like PIE did start first on more mainstream platforms, etc. However, I can't pinpoint the exact recent security feature I had in mind, so maybe it was me misreading it.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

pizza — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 20:36:32 +0000

Toolchain support is pretty solid but in a greater "ecosystem" sense, you're less likely to find hand-tuned asm for mips targets than you are for various ARM architechures. Not in toolchains specifically, but in third-party libraries (be they F/OSS or not).

Relatedly, there are generally fewer proprietary libraries/etc available for mips targets, though now that Little Endian platforms are more predominant (on ARM, MIPS, and PPC alike) that has started changing.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

jem — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 20:36:04 +0000

On the other hand, MIPS predates ARM by a couple of years, and GCC probably supported MIPS before ARM.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

misc — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:48:53 +0000

I would assume that, given that most mobiles phones runs on arm, there is a much better chance of having proper toolchain support on it than on mips. Eg, going beyond basic support, like having optimisations, having various security features working on arm, or just someone who did test the software on the platform.

But that's also what is interesting with that, this give a new frontier to explore :)

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

tao — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:49:23 +0000

I agree on all the other advantages of the Pi Zero, but I have a hard time seeing that being MIPS is a disadvantage.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

excors — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 12:46:39 +0000

At least it doesn't need any GPU firmware, because it doesn't have a GPU. It looks like the $4 version also doesn't come with any physical ports - you have to solder wires onto the board, or spend an extra $27 on a microSD+ethernet+USB+power 'dock' - whereas the $5 Pi Zero has microSD+USB+HDMI ports built-in (and a GPU, and 8x the RAM, and better upstream Linux support, and is not MIPS). But the Pi Zero is physically larger and doesn't have ethernet/wireless (except via USB), so it really depends on your requirements.

(Incidentally, I find it better to read headlines like "Move over X, here's Y" or "Y is the X-killer" as endorsements of X, not of Y; it implies that X is a popular and well-liked thing worth comparing to, whereas all it says about Y is that the reporter saw a press release about it. Like when fantasy book reviews and cover quotes all say "as good as Tolkien", that says more about Tolkien than about the book being reviewed.)

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

pabs — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 06:09:45 +0000

FYI, this device uses a MIPS CPU, not ARM.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

flussence — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 05:58:04 +0000

As with almost all devices like these, the important question is how much of that limited space will be wasted on proprietary, unfixable ARM SoC firmware blobs?

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

gutschke — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 01:45:09 +0000

Checking on the site for that product it looks as if it actually is going to be noticeably more expensive if you actually try to buy the board. But even then, it does have a lot of appeal. The small form factor and number of GPIO is attractive. The fact that it runs some sort of Linux and has decent integrated connectivity sets it apart from some of the other low end micro controllers. And the smallish storage size is not necessarily a problem for many applications.

Now, if only it came with POE, a small proto board area and a case, I'd be all over it

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

johan — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 00:53:11 +0000

Not bad, nor does it seem impressive though. I'd much rather buy a CHIP for $8 and get a faster SoC, 256mb ram, 4gb built in flash, and wi-fi+bluetooth out of the box.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

bronson — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 22:40:48 +0000

Define modern Linux? If you mean a recentish kernel plus some binary blobs and even OpenWRT, then yes. If you mean Debian/Arch/Mint/etc, then no way.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

atelszewski — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 22:40:17 +0000

What do you mean by modern Linux?
You won't be able to run KDE.
But you're surely able to build useful Buildroot based system.
Everything depends on your needs.
Imagine you need MODBUS <-> WiFi bridge, then 8MB is plenty of storage.

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

atai — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 22:29:53 +0000

the $10 miliion question is that, can you run modern Linux on it?

Move over Raspberry Pi, here is a $4, coin-sized, open-source Linux computer(ZDNet)

bronson — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 22:26:12 +0000

Terrible headline... It would be more like "Move over Pi Zero," except the Pi Zero includes connectors and the VoCore2 doesn't.

Only 8MB onboard flash... These days, that's closer to a microcontroller than a computer.