What OS I should use for my application

[plinioandrade]

Hey guys,
I'm new on Raspeberry Pi world. I'm working on a project. The idea is to create a data logger using Raspiberry Pi. The data will come from Wireless Dongle (Raspiberry B+) and eventually from UART communication and then those data will be sent to a web service. I probably will need to have a OS on Raspiberry Pi with TCP/IP stack support, Wireless Dongle driver, eventually a web server (I want to make web pages for configuration of the board), eventually a DHCP Server. I have a plan to eventually programming my embedded application using Qt.
My question is: What is the best option for an OS? I don't want something "heavy" I just want something "LITE" and FAST. Should I use a RTOS or a Linux based OS is better?
I really appreciate any comments. Sincerely,
Plínio Andrade.

[RaTTuS]

raspbian

[ShiftPlusOne]

raspbian installed using raspbian-uanetinst, or archlinux.

[plinioandrade]

raspbian installed using raspbian-uanetinst, or archlinux.

Are both of them allowed to run Qt applications?
What is the lighter one?
What exactly do you mean by "using raspbian-uanetinst"?
Sincerely,

[ShiftPlusOne]

Depends on what you mean by 'light', but I'll go with arch. Yes, qt will work fine on both of them.

You'll have to google and check the readme for raspbian-uanetinst though.

[theoscy]

Arch, light, fast, ultra compatible.

[fruitoftheloom]

raspbian installed using raspbian-uanetinst, or archlinux.

Are both of them allowed to run Qt applications?
What is the lighter one?
What exactly do you mean by "using raspbian-uanetinst"?
Sincerely,

Arch Linux Arm and this is a list of packages available for ARMv6 http://archlinuxarm.org/packages both QT4 and QT5 available

[AndrewS]

IMHO if you're "new on Raspeberry Pi world" you'll find things much easier if you start out with Raspbian, as there's much more help / instructions / tutorials available for it. Have a go at developing your project with it, and you can always then migrate it to ArchLinux later if you need a bit of a speedup, when you're more familiar with the Raspberry Pi and Linux in general.

[ShiftPlusOne]

IMHO if you're "new on Raspeberry Pi world" you'll find things much easier if you start out with Raspbian, as there's much more help / instructions / tutorials available for it. Have a go at developing your project with it, and you can always then migrate it to ArchLinux later if you need a bit of a speedup, when you're more familiar with the Raspberry Pi and Linux in general.

Not necessarily true. Raspbian has lots of pi-specific tutorials, but if you look at it from a debian vs arch point of view, the archlinux wiki is a treasure trove of information, whereas debian is lacking. If you google for solutions to common problems, quite often it's the archlinux forum that pops up at the top of the results as well.

I could go on on about the benefits of getting to grips with a distro like arch, gentoo or even LFS, but I'll stop myself .

Having said that, I use and recommend Raspbian myself, just for other reasons.

[pluggy]

The other side of the same coin is that Raspdian is next door to identical to the most popular distribution - Ubuntu and nothing touches Ubuntu for support. Debian is the root of a lot more than Raspdian, I often use the Ubuntu forums to sort a Raspdian problem. True, support for Debian itself is very lacking.

[jbowler]

The idea is to create a data logger using Raspiberry Pi. The data will come from Wireless Dongle (Raspiberry B+) and eventually from UART communication and then those data will be sent to a web service.

The main issue is the driver for the wireless dongle. You're apparently trying to make a wireless gateway, i.e. the RPi will manage (via DHCP) various sensors that are connect wirelessly then communicate back via, I assume, a wireless interface. You might be better off looking at things like OpenWRT; the hardware is ridiculously cheap if you buy it used and USD50, including case, new.

{E}ventually a web server (I want to make web pages for configuration of the board), eventually a DHCP Server. I have a plan to eventually programming my embedded application using Qt.

That seems a bit heavy weight; Qt is very much a desktop system (where 'desktop' in this context means any GUI system designed for no-cooperating clients). Using it on a system where you control everything that is going on is probably a mistake.

My question is: What is the best option for an OS? I don't want something "heavy" I just want something "LITE" and FAST. Should I use a RTOS or a Linux based OS is better?

Well, if you want Qt it has to be Windows, Symbian or un*x doesn't it? And they aren't listing Symbian any longer:

http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/suppor ... forms.html

I'd say go for OpenWRT; it's not RT but any un*x that isn't running a GUI (i.e. not Qt) can be made effectively RT by careful choice of file system handling and process priorities. Indeed, there are build options in Linux for real-time handling. Other companies have done what you are trying to do using Linux combined with single binary mega-servers (Obihai for example) or careful choice of what gets to run (LinkSys, originally, on the WRT54G; the thing that gave rise to OpenWRT).

If you really want Qt and you must use RPi then OpenEmbedded or Arch Linux (personally I'd go for OE, but that's just me) are obvious choices.

John Bowler

[Heater]

pluggy,

...support for Debian itself is very lacking.

I cannot agree with that. Partly why I have been a Debian user for years is that there is lot's of support everywhere.

Ubuntu is a disaster on a PC. They take Debian and are always breaking things in odd ways.

[plinioandrade]

Hey jbowler, in fact I'm not trying to build a gateway or router. My intention is to create a webservice which clients can access to see data coming from a device developed by the company I'm working for. The Raspberry Pi would be used to make the acquisition of data from this already done device and send this data to that web service and eventualy to save the data in is card to be displayed in a locally web page . The QT idea is a becsuse I think I can do it better if I attach a colored LCD colored in the RPi in order to alow de user to configure the device (not RPi).

[pluggy]

pluggy,

...support for Debian itself is very lacking.

I cannot agree with that. Partly why I have been a Debian user for years is that there is lot's of support everywhere.

Ubuntu is a disaster on a PC. They take Debian and are always breaking things in odd ways.

Your opinion, I've used Ubuntu continuously since 2006 and Debian on and off for about the same time. They occasionally get things wrong, but its been pretty solid on the dozens of machines I've installed it on. I offer it as an option to revitalise old Windoze PCs for customers, no complaints. Some customers can't afford a new PC and they just want a facebook and email terminal.

[rpdom]

Ubuntu is a disaster on a PC. They take Debian and are always breaking things in odd ways.

Your opinion, I've used Ubuntu continuously since 2006 and Debian on and off for about the same time. They occasionally get things wrong, but its been pretty solid on the dozens of machines I've installed it on. I offer it as an option to revitalise old Windoze PCs for customers, no complaints. Some customers can't afford a new PC and they just want a facebook and email terminal.

I've tried Ubuntu several times over the years for friends who wanted it. It consistently had problems ranging from the installer being unable to do a simple disk partition to clashes on automatic software upgrades.

I'll stick with the reliable Debian (Wheezy and Jessie), and Raspbian (which I can spell) thank you

[AndrewS]

Let's try and avoid an off-topic flamewar, eh?

[pluggy]

Seeing as you have more posts than either of us, who am I to argue ?

RaspBian