Raspberry Pi OS

Overview

Raspberry Pi OS is a free, open-source Linux distribution developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Designed for Raspberry Pi single-board computers (such as the Pi Zero, 3, 4, and 5), it's based on Debian and uses the LXDE desktop environment by default (the lightweight version lacks a desktop environment). It's available on the armhf (32-bit) or arm64 (64-bit) architectures and optimized for low-power, low-cost devices. It provides a stable, easy-to-use operating system suitable for education, programming, IoT, media centers, and development. Raspberry Pi OS supports APT package management and comes pre-installed with programming tools (such as Python and Scratch), office software (LibreOffice), multimedia applications (VLC), and a browser (Chromium). It also includes the Raspberry Pi Imager flashing tool.

Versions:

• Raspberry Pi OS with Desktop: Includes the LXDE desktop, suitable for education and general-purpose tasks.
• Raspberry Pi OS Lite: A lightweight version without a desktop environment, suitable for server or embedded projects. - Raspberry Pi OS Legacy: Based on older versions of Debian (such as Buster), supporting earlier hardware.

History and Development

• Origins:
  • June 2012: Released Raspbian, based on Debian 7 "Wheezy," providing an optimized operating system for the Raspberry Pi, developed by Mike Thompson and Peter Green.
  • 2015: Migrated to Debian 8 "Jessie," introduced the LXDE desktop, and optimized ARM performance.
  • May 2020: Renamed to Raspberry Pi OS, released based on Debian 10 "Buster," supporting both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
• Development History:
  • December 2021: Based on Debian 11 "Bullseye," introduced GTK+3, experimental Wayland support, and a 64-bit version (beta).
  • February 2023: 64-bit stable release, optimized for the Raspberry Pi 4 and 400.
  • May 2025: The latest version is based on Debian 12 "Bookworm," features LXDE (PCmanFM), Linux kernel 6.6, and adds arm64 optimizations, Vulkan support, and Pi 5 compatibility.
• Community and Support:
  • Maintained by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the community, with an active GitHub repository (github.com/raspberrypi) and forums (forums.raspberrypi.com).
  • Comprehensive documentation (raspberrypi.com/documentation) in multiple languages, including English and Chinese.
  • A Reddit user stated, "Raspberry Pi OS is the best choice for the Pi, with a rich set of pre-installed tools."
• Open Source License:
  • GPL v2 (core components), MIT (some tools).

Key Features

Raspberry Pi OS is designed with lightweight, optimized, and easy-to-use features in mind, making it suitable for Raspberry Pi education, development, and IoT projects. Here are its key features:

1. Lightweight Desktop Environment
   • Uses LXDE (PCmanFM file manager) by default, consuming approximately 400-600MB of RAM.
   • Supports Wayland (experimental), providing smooth visuals.
2. Debian-Based Stability
   • Based on Debian 12 "Bookworm," uses APT package management, and supports rolling updates (for some components).
3. Rich Pre-installed Software
   • Pre-installed Chromium, LibreOffice, VLC, Python 3, Scratch, Thonny, Geany, and Wolfram Engine (Education Edition). - Supports Flatpak and Snap (manual installation required):
4. Hardware Optimization
   • Optimized for armhf (32-bit) and arm64 (64-bit), supporting the Raspberry Pi Zero, 3, 4, and 5.
   • Minimum requirements: 512 MB RAM, 4 GB microSD card (2 GB RAM, 32 GB microSD card recommended).
   • Supports GPU acceleration (Vulkan, OpenGL ES 3.1).
5. Development and IoT Support
   • Pre-installed Python and GPIO libraries support IoT and hardware projects.
6. Security and Privacy
   • SSH is enabled by default (must be pre-configured via Imager) and supports the ufw firewall.
   • No ad data collection.

Advantages and Limitations

Advantages

• Hardware Optimization:
  • Tailored for the Raspberry Pi, with better performance than general-purpose Linux distributions such as Ubuntu.
  • X's post claims, "Raspberry Pi OS is blazing fast on the Pi 5, and Vulkan support is fantastic."
• Easy to use:
  • LXDE is lightweight and comes pre-installed with educational and development tools, making it perfect for beginners.
• Rich pre-installed software:
  • Includes Chromium, LibreOffice, and Python.
• Community support:
  • The Raspberry Pi forum and GitHub are active, with comprehensive documentation.
• Free and open source:
  • GPL v2 and MIT licenses, no paid features.

Limitations

• Hardware limitations:
  • Supports only the Raspberry Pi, not x86 PCs.
• Resource usage:
  • The Desktop version consumes 400-600MB of RAM, more than Puppy Linux.
  • Solution: Use the Lite version.
• Slow software updates:
  • The Debian base updates more slowly than Arch.
• Complex configuration:
  • Wayland and Vulkan configurations require manual adjustments. - Solution: Use raspi-config.

Summary

Raspberry Pi OS is a free, open-source Linux distribution based on Debian 12 "Bookworm" optimized for the Raspberry Pi. It features the LXDE desktop (or Lite desktop-less) and supports armhf/arm64 architectures. The latest version (May 2025) runs Linux kernel 6.6 and comes pre-installed with Chromium, LibreOffice, Python, and more, making it optimized for education, programming, and IoT tasks. Raspberry Pi OS provides a lightweight, stable, and easy-to-use environment. Its hardware optimizations and official support make it ideal for Pi devices, but it's limited to the ARM architecture. Flashing with Raspberry Pi Imager allows for rapid deployment.