Best OS for Pi 2?

[Lonewolff]

Hi Guys,

What do you recommend as the best OS for the new Raspberry Pi 2?

Is there an OS out there that takes advantage of the additional cores etc?

Thanks in advance

[Heater]

That would be Raspbian.

Sure it uses the extra cores. It's Linux kernel is very good at that.

[DavidS]

I would say use RISC OS, and take advantage of the other cores in your own code.

As RISC OS uses only one core for everything, you can write dedicated realtime applications to run on the other cores, having them use a specific memory region to comunicate with the OS for standard I/O.

Much better than an OS that manages the use of the extra cores for you, you get full control of 3 cores with no operating system in the way, while still having an operating system to manage the menial I/O stuff for you, running on the other core.

[Lonewolff]

Cool, thanks for the heads up guys.

So Raspbian should be pretty responsive now compared to on the last model of Pi, right?

Everywhere I read, I see that the new model is 6x faster. So, does this translate well to real world use?

BTW, expecting my Model 2 to arrive either today or tomorrow

[mikronauts]

Another vote for raspbian...

As far as how fast it is, I have benchmark results at:

http://www.mikronauts.com/raspberry-pi/ ... -review/6/

Cool, thanks for the heads up guys.

So Raspbian should be pretty responsive now compared to on the last model of Pi, right?

Everywhere I read, I see that the new model is 6x faster. So, does this translate well to real world use?

BTW, expecting my Model 2 to arrive either today or tomorrow

[Lonewolff]

Cool thanks for the benchmarks.

So, real world it is about twice as quick. That's still pretty good for such a low power device.

Wonder how it will go with my 4 stick raid setup that made my B model smoke along

[EtonMess]

For Raspbian, real world use means a much smoother and less laggy GUI desktop experience from a users point of view. I've been a Pi user from the start and with the Pi 2 for the first time I've been comfortable doing normal desktop functions. As well as the extra CPU cores,you have double the RAM available.

Command line stuff always was as quick as it could squeeze data on and off and SD card for me, and still is.

I don't know what the Raspberry Pi Foundation plans are for Raspbian, as it is still ARMV6 code, it is the same distribution for both the older Pis and the ne Pi2, and that backward compatibility is a good thing.
If there is to be more ARMV7 code in future Raspbian then expect more optimisation and even more speed and future Wayland will make things even slicker, though not sure if having and ARM7 Raspbian will cause an undesirable fork.

[Heater]

Some recent benchmark testing results posted to this form indicated that ARM7 code was not noticeably faster and in some cases even slower! I don't see any pressing need to move away from Raspbian at this time.

@DavidS,

RISC OS may well be interesting if you want to do a lot of your own programming to make an application use the three cores the OS cannot use otherwise. Having such low level control may be useful in some rare cases.

Do you have any example code that does that we could look at for inspiration?

I suspect Lonewolff, like may others, does not want to get down that much work to get a single fast app. Being cut off from the huge Raspbian support network would also be a real hindrance.

Edit: Ah, sorry I missed that mikronaughts has indeed linked his results above.

[DavidS]

@DavidS,

RISC OS may well be interesting if you want to do a lot of your own programming to make an application use the three cores the OS cannot use otherwise. Having such low level control may be useful in some rare cases.

Do you have any example code that does that we could look at for inspiration?

I suspect Lonewolff, like may others, does not want to get down that much work to get a single fast app. Being cut off from the huge Raspbian support network would also be a real hindrance.

Ok I do not always think about the newer to programming bunch. My bad.

As to sample code, not until I actually get a multi core ARM to run RISC OS on, I am still on the old model B (3 of them as my main 3 computers). I have experimented a little in consept, though with out a multi core ARM to test it on, not much else I can do.

[Heater]

I don't mean to disparage RISC OS.

It's just that suggesting an OS for the Pi 2 that does not support multi-core and has no multi-core apps, that requires one to roll ones sleeves up and get down to serious systems programming to so so, may not be appropriate for any one except hard core geeks who want to do that and already have an attachment to RISC OS. I guess there may be a handful of such people in the world.

So never mind the newer to programming, even old hands may prefer to spend their time creating their apps. And creating code that is portable to many other systems.

As a practical matter, it's not clear to me that RISC OS even runs on the 4 core Pi. The downloads page hints that it does not. Perhaps it does or perhaps that is easily fixed for those who know how.

[fruitoftheloom]

That would be Raspbian.

Sure it uses the extra cores. It's Linux kernel is very good at that.

+1

[Joe Schmoe]

I don't mean to disparage RISC OS.

It's just that suggesting an OS for the Pi 2 that does not support multi-core and has no multi-core apps, that requires one to roll ones sleeves up and get down to serious systems programming to so so, may not be appropriate for any one except hard core geeks who want to do that and already have an attachment to RISC OS. I guess there may be a handful of such people in the world.

So never mind the newer to programming, even old hands may prefer to spend their time creating their apps. And creating code that is portable to many other systems.

As a practical matter, it's not clear to me that RISC OS even runs on the 4 core Pi. The downloads page hints that it does not. Perhaps it does or perhaps that is easily fixed for those who know how.

The problem with this mindset is that it is like asking "What is the best book ever written?"

There's obviously only one "legitimate" answer: The Bible.

Because any other answer will just generate controversy. So, thus, since there's only one possible answer, there's really not any point in asking the question. Which means this whole thread is moot.

Now, having said all that, note that I am being about 60% sarcastic. My real point is that the only answers to these sorts of questions that are at all interesting *are* the "non-standard" ones. Therefore, I applaud DavidS's answer. It shows thought and a willingness to take position, unlike the party line of just saying "Use Raspbian, because everybody else does."

[3corey2]

its a prefrence.

[user007]

Hi Guys,

What do you recommend as the best OS for the new Raspberry Pi 2?

Is there an OS out there that takes advantage of the additional cores etc?

Thanks in advance

1) Raspbian OS would be the very first one to start with. Easy installation and no troubles. You may use direct Ethernet connection or Wireless USB adapter.
2) OpenElec OS v 5.03 (XBMC) is a Media Center with Android app remote control, running Full HD content on TV.
You may connect your TV to Raspberry Pi 2 via HDMI, place media content on USB flash drives or USB HDDs with autonomous PS or NAS and use like a remote control a mobile phone with Android app.
3) Kali Linux OS has excellent desktop and more than 300 penetration testing tools - it is excellent tool for learning of network and applications security, ethical hacking and pentesting. Works well on Raspberry Pi 2.
4) May be the best OS for Raspberry Pi 2 will be Windows 10. We may expect Windows 10 TechPreview in very near future, Release Candidates and final Windows 10 OS later this year.

You may place different OS on different microSD cards and switch them.

[Lonewolff]

Ok I do not always think about the newer to programming bunch. My bad.

Don't stress. I am certainly no newbie to hardcore coding (and Electronics was what I studied at Uni as a kid - topping every year BTW too - so best of both worlds)

This is something I'll definitely be looking at also.

Hey, it's only a swap of an SD card right?

So, definitely a suggestion that I was interested in hearing as well.

[Heater]

@Joe Schmoe,

The problem with this mindset...it is like asking "What is the best book ever written?...The Bible".

No. It's not like that at all. Nothing to do with religion or politics or mind set or other "group think".

The opening posters question was:

What do you recommend as the best OS for the new Raspberry Pi 2? Is there an OS out there that takes advantage of the additional cores

Clearly the answer does not include RISC OS. Which as far as I know only understands a single CPU and is not even runnable on the Pi 2.

However, like you I applaud anyone who attempts to do such things. It no doubt takes a lot more skill and patience than I have. It may well be a useless dead end, but hey, I have followed a few of those for fun myself.

By the way, the best surviving book ever written was probably Euclid's Elements. Comprising a summary of work done some hundreds of years BC.

@3corey2,

its a prefrence.

Well, no it is not.

RISC OS does not meet the opening posters requirements. Unless that is you expect him to spend thousands of hours working on RISC OS to make it so.

@user007

May be the best OS for Raspberry Pi 2 will be Windows 10.

At that, I'm speechless.

[fruitoftheloom]

4) May be the best OS for Raspberry Pi 2 will be Windows 10. We may expect Windows 10 TechPreview in very near future, Release Candidates and final Windows 10 OS later this year.

Obviously you have undertaken Zero reseaerch, the official Windows 10 which will be available for the RPi 2 is for IoT development........

[EtonMess]

4) May be the best OS for Raspberry Pi 2 will be Windows 10. We may expect Windows 10 TechPreview in very near future, Release Candidates and final Windows 10 OS later this year.

Obviously you have undertaken Zero reseaerch, the official Windows 10 which will be available for the RPi 2 is for IoT development........

There are still tens of thousands of people out there who still believe that Microsoft are going to release a free Windows 10 for Raspberry Pi 2 with full desktop similar to the WIMBoot versions of 8.1 on tablets. Potentially a PR nightmare in the pipeline.

I think the truth is that what exact form an IoT version will take, nobody actually knows because it isn't decided yet. I suppose there are a few people close to the project with a rough idea.

[Heater]

Given that there is some kind of Windows on phones as tablets it's not such a stretch to imagine that MS could make a Windows for the Pi. Would they ever do that? Who knows?

As it stands Windows 10 IoT for the Pi is some kind of sick joke. It does not have any windows at all. It seems to not have SSH. Just login via telnet. Do what? For an internet connected device?!

It brings us back to the days of MS-DOS but with a network connection and an Arduino compatible API. Do what, again?

[EtonMess]

Given that there is some kind of Windows on phones as tablets it's not such a stretch to imagine that MS could make a Windows for the Pi. Would they ever do that? Who knows?

As it stands Windows 10 IoT for the Pi is some kind of sick joke. It does not have any windows at all. It seems to not have SSH. Just login via telnet. Do what? For an internet connected device?!

It brings us back to the days of MS-DOS but with a network connection and an Arduino compatible API. Do what, again?

IoT on Intel Galileo/Edison is like that, destined mostly for headless. But, Galileo has no Broadcom graphics beast on board and its much more like a Microsoft version of Arduino. For Pi 2, IoT may be offered with some level of gui shell from a basic window interface for terminals, right up to Metro style. Win10 IoT will take different forms on different devices.

But, I am speculating, it won't make a comfortable MS Office / Visual Studio platform.

[fruitoftheloom]

Given that there is some kind of Windows on phones as tablets it's not such a stretch to imagine that MS could make a Windows for the Pi. Would they ever do that? Who knows?

As it stands Windows 10 IoT for the Pi is some kind of sick joke. It does not have any windows at all. It seems to not have SSH. Just login via telnet. Do what? For an internet connected device?!

It brings us back to the days of MS-DOS but with a network connection and an Arduino compatible API. Do what, again?

IoT on Intel Galileo/Edison is like that, destined mostly for headless. But, Galileo has no Broadcom graphics beast on board and its much more like a Microsoft version of Arduino. For Pi 2, IoT may be offered with some level of gui shell from a basic window interface for terminals, right up to Metro style. Win10 IoT will take different forms on different devices.

But, I am speculating, it won't make a comfortable MS Office / Visual Studio platform.

It depends how you define Windows 10, if you take *NIX then the Kernel is *NIX, NT 10 Kernel is cross-platform so a GUI is a DE !


Though back on topic, for a newcomer Raspbian still gives the best starting point on the RPi journey

One would not ask this question if one was more experienced of using differing OSes and Programming etal

[EtonMess]

Yes, Raspbian. Biggest community, most support, more projects very stable.

[pluggy]

Raspbian, by a country mile. Most flexible, least bugs, most support.

[user007]

by EtonMess » Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:23 pm

There are still tens of thousands of people out there who still believe that Microsoft are going to release a free Windows 10 for Raspberry Pi 2 with full desktop similar to the WIMBoot versions of 8.1 on tablets. Potentially a PR nightmare in the pipeline.

I think the truth is that what exact form an IoT version will take, nobody actually knows because it isn't decided yet. I suppose there are a few people close to the project with a rough idea.

Lets not be arrogant to Microsoft, at least their Windows 8 for tablets under 10" is free!
We may beleive that Windows 10 will be free for tablets under 10" and small ARM based devices too..

[jamesh]

This is NOT a windows thread. And the OP's question has been answered, so closing.

A. Raspbian, by miles.