Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ support to arrive in Linux 5.1

Raspberry Pi fans rejoice! Support for another of the diminutive computers has been added to the next version of Linux Kernel, 5.1. The Pi 3 Model A+ Single Board Computer (SBC) was added as part of a much larger update that brought support for a wide range of Arm hardware. We took a look at new Model A+ back in November and …

[Andy Non]

Mint?

Does this mean it may be possible to install Linux Mint at some point in the not too distant future?

[Sgt_Oddball]

Re: Mint?

Or even running Linux mint on a mobile instead of android?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Linux mint on a mobile instead of android?

I think it'd be rather amusing (but admittedly not especially useful) to be able to install a running Opie, like I hadve on my old Zaurus.

Mind you Mint would be nice as well ... because then it might be worth trying to install Slackware... :-)

[teknopaul]

Re: Mint?

The fact hat Linus considers rpi a standard platform is weight to the argument that Mint should support it too. But does not help with the effort needed.

[jake]

I would think ...

... it would make more sense to get it to run Slackware, and then move on to kitchensinkware like Mint.

[Michael Habel]

Re: I would think ...

Surly Arch Linux would be the best weapon of choice for this device. Makes me wonder when or if the Pi foundation will ever discover the SATA Port, and why they should probably toss in a few. As a means to bulild a NAS Box on the cheap.

[blcollier]

Re: I would think ...

The SoC doesn't have the support for it IIRC. It still only supports USB2 too. Changing the SoC would be a massive massive undertaking and would break compatibility for a lot of stuff.

[jake]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. (was: Re: I would think ...)

You can already run Slackware on various Pi ... See:

https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:hardware:arm:raspberrypi3

For more, see Slackware ARM on Raspberry Pi (SARPi):

http://sarpi.co.uk/

For the record, I'm using a SlackPi as a dedicated development box for my ATmega328 greenhouse project. It's actually quite nice to work with. Recommended.

[teknopaul]

Re: I would think ...

No point in a sata port, you can connect hd via usb 2 for a nas. The ports are not what limits a rpis performance.

[Gene Cash]

So what was it running before?

Was it running in some sort of compatibility mode?

[VikiAi]

Re: So what was it running before?

Running on out-of-tree patches, I assume.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: So what was it running before?

Custom kernel tree which was extra work for someone and sometimes slight pain for users trying to get some mainstream app to work.

[JJKing]

The Pi is an exceptional tool, IMO.

As someone who only had a SlideRule to make calculations at school, these Raspberry Pi device blow me away just as much now as when they were first produced. I guess they are now the equivalent of my meccano sets. Long may the Pi keep being improved upon and produced.

[STOP_FORTH]

Re: The Pi is an exceptional tool, IMO.

Did you know that you can estimate the age of somebody from the colour of their Meccano pieces? (Unless they inherited it from their father.)

Light red and green here.

[jake]

Re: The Pi is an exceptional tool, IMO.

"Unless they inherited it from their father."

Or unless they frequented junk shops in the '70s and collected it whenever they found it.

[STOP_FORTH]

Re: The Pi is an exceptional tool, IMO.

That's piebald Meccano. Can only reveal maximum possible age of user but has a large one-sided error bar.

[Mage]

Re: The Pi is an exceptional tool, IMO.

A slide-rule! Such luxury only when I got to college. The calculator then had a valve, a vacuum tube, though it was only for the display. You could see the filament glow faint orange in the dark.

I only had log tables at school.

No doubt someone older will write how they didn't even have a modern abacus, but moved little stones in grooves (insertis calculis tractus). In case you wondered how people did counting using the Roman numerals. They neglected to tell us that at school when we were learning Latin and the mad Roman numerals. No wonder they employed Greeks, Hebrews, Persians and Egyptians as mathematicians.

I never did have the money for a programmable calculator. I bought a computer. Now the clones of the Casio with handy Bin Oct Hex Dec modes in slim brushed alloy front are only €2 and the actual Casios do fractions and seem harder to operate. Well, I've got an HP RPN calculator simulation on my phone. My wife had a real one once.

[jake]

Re: The Pi is an exceptional tool, IMO.

I use an abacus to calculate critter nutrition needs in my feedbarn almost daily. Normal calculators die in a matter of weeks in that environment. I still use sliderules, where applicable (in the aircraft & "back of the envelope" calculations for ranching needs, mostly).

My .fav sliderule.

Now THAT's what I call a Sun Workstation!

[Rudolph Hucker the Third]

Just posting an early letter to Santa from my children.

Dear Santa

Thank you for the Raspberry Pi 3A which is very nice and lots of fun and we have learned lots and lots about Linux and Python because of them and that's a good thing for us at school and where my Daddy works.

Please can you send me and my Daddy a Raspberry Pi 4 as well? The one with USB3 and SATA would be very nice. Thank you.

Yours sincerely

Rudolph Hucker the 4th.

[WallMeerkat]

> USB3

And presumably a stocking full of dongles to actually connect with anything you use

[Zoopy]

"And presumably a stocking full of dongles to actually connect with anything you use"

That sounds like something for the dear wife, that the kids DEFINITELY need to not unwrap by accident.

[sean.fr]

Kernal change - Who will not notice the difference?

GNU GUI and applications like libreoffice are the car.

The linux kernal is like petrol/gas.

You need fuel but you do not excited about fuel.

I can not find a application that would only run with a different kernal.

The Raspbian respository is pretty much identical to the complete Debian.

Freeradius, Wireshark, LibreOffice, the usual Web servers, and web browers, vlc, vnc, ssh, ftp, tftp, SQL databases; it is all there.

What would be helpful is a more powerful processor.. at the same price, power consumption, and same board form factor.

The free technical assistance from Broadcom early on has proved a great commercial investment.

A generation of engineers are learning their trade on Pi. Which is very good for chip sales long term. These people go on to design set top boxes, and washing machines. Broadcom could cut a deal on a more recent ARM, or the Pi people should talk to the ARM competition.

[itzman]

Re: Kernal change - Who will not notice the difference?

Linux COLONEL, please.

There is no sch thing as a kernal.

Even in Python..

[sean.fr]

Re: Kernal change - Who will not notice the difference?

You are picking me up on a spelling mistake?

So very 20th century.

Do you not have a smart phone?

If the sense is clear, the communication has worked.

[jake]

Re: Kernal change - Who will not notice the difference?

"Do you not have a smart phone?"

No, I do not. However, if I were to have one, how exactly would it help me with your (mis)use of written English? And why should I have to use a computer to derive the meaning of your message? For that matter, CAN I use a such a device to derive your meaning? Do we have an app for mind reading now?

"If the sense is clear, the communication has worked."

First impressions may be shallow, but they matter in our society. English is a precise language when used precisely. When used imprecisely it says nothing about the reader, but everything about the author.

[sean.fr]

Re: Kernal / Kernel Who will not notice the difference?

Standardized spelling is not critical to understanding or precision in communicating ideas. People were writing laws and contracts before dictionaries became popular around 1800, and then they only established a locally normalized spelling.

If you ask a friend under 40 to show you their phone messages, it will become clear than in an informal context, spell is not particularly important.

In my case, my PC localization is not english so it is just not spell checking.

[jake]

Re: Kernal / Kernel Who will not notice the difference?

So what you are saying is that being functionally illiterate is not only OK, but it is to be strived for as it is the new normal?

Wow. Just wow.

[Mage]

Re: functionally illiterate

Only Wizards obsess about spelling?

I do expect it in a book or web article. It's not an issue in comments. Also lack of spelling accuracy is nothing to do with being "functionally illiterate".

[jake]

Re: Kernal change - Who will not notice the difference?

"There is no sch thing as a kernal."

Apparently itzman didn't spend his/her formative years playing with his pet, a Commodore (and other 8-bit systems in the same family).