What the Raspberry Pi Means for ARM, Open Source Computing

Some days I think ARM computing belongs in the same category as “the cloud” — both have generated huge amounts of buzz but haven’t always lived up to the hype.  Yet the latest ARM product to hit the market, the Raspberry Pi mini-computer, might be proof that there is something to the supposed ARM revolution after all — particularly for the open source channel. Here’s why.

I have to admit that my first thought upon hearing about the Linux-based Raspberry Pi, which is billed as a computer to be “used by kids all over the world to learn programming,” was that it sounded a lot like the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) endeavor — and was probably similarly destined to fizzle out. After all, both ventures are the work of charitable organizations, and both produce minimal-cost computers designed in theory to help ambitious children become programming gurus, but in practice coveted largely by rich geeks. The only real differences between Raspberry Pi and OLPC, I thought, was that the former was built on ARM hardware and has not yet been infiltrated by Microsoft.

But it’s now appearing that a third key distinction between the two projects it that the Raspberry Pi may actually turn out to be a success, in comparison to the lackluster achievements of the good-intentioned OLPC people. On Feb. 29, 2012, the device, priced at $35, finally went on sale, and demand since then has reportedly remained steadily colossal. It’s still early to say anything for sure, but it seems this tiny device may have genuine appeal beyond the circle of geeks who have cheered the project on since its origins.

Raspberry Pi and Open Source

The future evolution of the Raspberry Pi will be fascinating enough to track in its own right. But what’s really interesting, I think, is the potential the device holds for transforming the juncture between open source and ARM computing.

Although ARM seemed like the natural domain of open source platforms early on, that didn’t turn out to be the case. True, most leading desktop Linux distributions now release ARM builds, but with a paucity of affordable ARM-based PC hardware available, few of them have really been put to good use. Meanwhile the announcement of support for ARM in Windows 8 dashed hopes that the open source channel might enjoy a monopoly over the new hardware technology.

Yet if the Raspberry Pi turns out to be a signal success commercially, it will constitute one of the first real examples of general-purpose ARM hardware — whether powered by open or closed source software — reaching consumers on a massive scale. And since the Raspberry Pi runs Linux (by default Fedora, although other distributions can be installed), it will provide the open source ecosystem a major leg up in the struggle to establish dominance within the ARM market.

Moreover, the Raspberry Pi is especially promising in this respect because, unlike a majority of other Linux-powered OEM products, it’s not a single-purpose device but one that can be useful for many different tasks. Although designed with the goal of teaching kids to program, the hardware is pretty generic and can do plenty of other things, from multimedia playback to office productivity to Web browsing. It thus stands better poised to rival whatever Microsoft and other competitors put out in the ARM market, which likely will be aimed at a general computing audience as well.

Lest I find myself guilty of adding to the torrent of unqualified ARM hype, I should make clear that it’s far too early right now to know whether the Raspberry Pi will be a true success or a fad, let alone how it might actually end up being used by average consumers. Nor is it yet possible to say how other platforms, both open and closed source, will make their own plays for the ARM market.

But what is clear is that the Raspberry Pi has already achieved more, in less time, than most other ARM adventures out there: It’s released a non-crippled, Linux-based device with measurable commercial success, and for the open source channel, that’s a big deal.