this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
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Raspberry Pi

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I realize this is Raspberry Pi community, but considering the overlap, I hope Pi-adjacent is acceptable.

Looking at the Orange Pi Zero W2 for a project since it's available with a lot more RAM than the Pi ZeroW2 (1-4 GB vs 512 MB). I'm not doing anything complex with it (no GPIO, USB gadget, etc), and it'll basically just be a tiny server running Kiwix and possibly some light groupware and/or file share. Maybe even CodeServer if I go with the 4 GB model.

Essentially my requirements for it are:

  • Wifi AP support so devices can connect to it. Preferably AP+STA so it can also provide internet and PiHole services.
  • Runs a supported distro (e.g. not the one-and-done version from the manufacturer that's never updated)
  • Fairly stable
  • Supports 256 to 512 GB SD card

According to what I've read, Armbian seems to be the go-to distro for these boards. It also seems to be supported by DietPi.

I've got a handful of Pi Zero's (both 1 and 2) and they work well, but even with zram enabled, I'm limited by the 512 MB of memory, so these "fruit clone" ones are tempting. Anyone have hands-on experience with them? Is there a better distro besides Armbian? Should I just stick with Raspberry Pi and manage with the limited RAM?

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[โ€“] Alphane_Moon@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I have not tried Orange Pi SBCs, but I can strongly recommend DietPi, it is a very well done distro with lots of helpful CLI tools and an active and responsive development team.

I think that's what I'm going to try.