More OS Options?

[GenPatton68]

Hey, this may have come up already, or maybe it's being worked on now. I was just wondering if we could add a listing in the download section for RetroPi and Chromium OS? I could understand why you wouldn't want RetroPi listed, since it turns the raspberry pi into a gaming machine (which is awesome) and not an educational tool. I just think it would be nice if people knew what all of their options are.

(Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong spot)

[mathboy4life]

Hey, this may have come up already, or maybe it's being worked on now. I was just wondering if we could add a listing in the download section for RetroPi and Chromium OS? I could understand why you wouldn't want RetroPi listed, since it turns the raspberry pi into a gaming machine (which is awesome) and not an educational tool. I just think it would be nice if people knew what all of their options are.

(Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong spot)

They don't put up unstable or non-educational operating systems.

[mutley]

They don't put up unstable or non-educational operating systems.

Playing devils advocate, if that's the criteria then they shouldn't list any of the OS's that currently run on the PI.

[fruitoftheloom]

Hey, this may have come up already, or maybe it's being worked on now. I was just wondering if we could add a listing in the download section for RetroPi and Chromium OS? I could understand why you wouldn't want RetroPi listed, since it turns the raspberry pi into a gaming machine (which is awesome) and not an educational tool. I just think it would be nice if people knew what all of their options are.

(Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong spot)

ChromiumOS is still work in progress: http://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-chromium

......ARCH Linux ARM / Manjaro is not listed either as well as several other Operating Systems

[GenPatton68]

Maybe they could split it up into Educational and Recreational.

[GenPatton68]

Hey, this may have come up already, or maybe it's being worked on now. I was just wondering if we could add a listing in the download section for RetroPi and Chromium OS? I could understand why you wouldn't want RetroPi listed, since it turns the raspberry pi into a gaming machine (which is awesome) and not an educational tool. I just think it would be nice if people knew what all of their options are.

(Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong spot)

They don't put up unstable or non-educational operating systems.

openelec? OSMC?

[hippy]

Not educational - "Go away"

Educational - Anything we have embraced.

[mathboy4life]

openelec? OSMC?

They can help you watch some educational videos

[GenPatton68]

openelec? OSMC?

They can help you watch some educational videos

Riiiiiiiiight.

[Heater]

mutley,

Playing devils advocate, if that's the criteria then they shouldn't list any of the OS's that currently run on the PI.

Would you like to elaborate on that statement?

As far as I can tell Raspbian is both stable and educational.

Seems you have a different idea.

Let's hear it.

[timrowledge]

Operating systems,like any other software, are only stable/finished when the last customer dies.

[Heater]

timrowledge,

Operating systems, like any other software, are only stable/finished when the last customer dies.

That sounds like it should be very deep and profound.

I have no idea what it means.

My software is stable/finished as soon as I push it to github. Or wherever. I have no customers. Some people use it if they like. Which strangely they do from time to time. It's stable/finished until I decide it needs changing.

[mutley]

mutley,

Playing devils advocate, if that's the criteria then they shouldn't list any of the OS's that currently run on the PI.

Would you like to elaborate on that statement?

As far as I can tell Raspbian is both stable and educational.

Seems you have a different idea.

Let's hear it.

Raspbian as an OS is simply Linux. That's as educational as Windows, OS X, BSD, Unix. The full Raspbian Distribution deploys a few tools to help people develop, but I personally don't think that makes it an educational OS. At most maybe an educational focused distribution.
I do take that statement back though, as RISC OS I would probably consider educational.

As for stability, Debian Jessie has it's fair share of issues. Some parts of Jessie don't even work on a vanilla install, and you can't install it and leave it running 24/7/365 without making a lot of changes. It's more stable than Raspbian wheezy was though, or requires less modifications to make it stable.

Don't get me wrong, I think the whole PI package is a great educational tool, but I simply don't see how you can call Raspbian an educational OS when I don't see it doing anything over any other Linux distribution or any other OS to make it "educational".

[Heater]

mutely

Raspbian as an OS is simply Linux. That's as educational as Windows, OS X, BSD, Unix. The full Raspbian Distribution deploys a few tools to help people develop, but I personally don't think that makes it an educational OS. At most maybe an educational focused distribution.

I think we are going to have to define what we both mean by "educational" here.

The focus of the Pi is encouraging education in programming. As such Raspbian, Linux and all the rest of Free and Open Source software is educational. The source code is there if you want to learn from it. You can hack on it to your hearts content.

Windows on the other hand is not. It's a back box from which you can learn nothing.

I thought Risc OS was a similar closed source black box. Correct me if I am wrong.

As for "deploys a few tools" I have no idea what you mean. Pretty much any programming language known to man is available to a Raspbian user. Normally with just a simple "apt-get install...". There are tones of editors and IDEs. What is it that is missing for you?

As for stability, Debian Jessie has it's fair share of issues. Some parts of Jessie don't even work on a vanilla install, and you can't install it and leave it running 24/7/365 without making a lot of changes. It's more stable than Raspbian wheezy was though, or requires less modifications to make it stable.

Please do elaborate on the issues you have been having with Jessie. What parts do not work?

I have Jessie systems up and running continuously for months now. On my PC, on cloud services, on the Pi. I don't see any instability. Everything just works. I certainly do install it and leave it running 24/7/365 without making a lot of changes.

Mind you, "stability" is ambiguous here. We could mean stable in that the running system does not randomly crash unexpectedly. Or we could mean the software versions are stable, API's and config formats, etc are not going to be changing for a long while.

I simply don't see how you can call Raspbian an educational OS when I don't see it doing anything over any other Linux distribution or any other OS to make it "educational".

See above. Linux systems are some of the most educational software we have, in the context of education in programming. What more are you looking for?

[GenPatton68]

Mutley and Heater, I think we are straying off topic

[GenPatton68]

Eben Upton, get some RnD going on this STAT, ASAP, Pronto, etc.