Ten million Raspberry Pis | Hacker News Reader

Ten million Raspberry Pis

raspberrypi.org

110 pointsbenn_8845 comments

I found quite a good use for mine. I'm sure I could achieve it with something like DD-WRT, but it was fun:

Installed Debian on a Pi 3 Model B. Put the device in a case[0].

Installed dnsmasq[1] to manage local DHCP/DNS. Forwards to Google DNS. Also have everything running on a local search domain, along with some reservations.

Installed OpenVPN along with a dynamic DNS daemon[2] so I can VPN into my home network from anywhere. Good for setting up things for download while at work for example.

[0] http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/development-board-enclosures/9...

[1] http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/doc.html

[1] http://freedns.afraid.org

I similarly use a Pi 3 as a X2Go/NX gateway box for remote access to office machines from home.

I'm hesitant on using it as a network gateway as I'm not sure the LAN port would be fast enough (just an impression, never actually got around to checking that) and would need a second LAN port (at least) to do the job properly.

Am considering using one as a MQTT server as part of a home automation infrastructure. Could even use the on board wi-fi as a separate, carefully firewalled network for the various devices I might prefer not to have on the main network.

Definitely works with DD/OpenWRT, but many routers won't have enough free storage/RAM/clock cycles for it. RasPis are sillily powerful compared to that.

I wonder how many of them are just collecting dust in peoples' desk drawers.

We ordered two of the original ones for our office to play around with them, but only now, after 4½ years, I finally managed to find use for one as music player, after I decided I was too lazy to plug/unplug the speakers from my laptop.

I wonder how many of them are quietly doing a whole pile of work.

Even if only 10% of them is in use (which would be a very very low estimate) then this amounts to an incredible success because you can afford to buy one, try something and forget about it without breaking the bank.

The raspberry pi is a game-changer because it gives you a full fledged computer for a very low amount of money, so low you can actually afford to buy one and let it gather dust in a drawer.

By the same token: I wonder how many Intel cpu's and the motherboards going with them of those that were ever sold are productive today. If you look at things this way the glass will always be half-full and you're not going to see the impact of the devices other than from an angle of waste.

But the better angle is to see what is done with them.

> Even if only 10% of them is in use (which would be a very very low estimate) then this amounts to an incredible success because you can afford to buy one, try something and forget about it without breaking the bank.

Yup. I currently have a Pi turning my TV on/off, because my Intel NUC doesn't support CEC. Is it necessary? Hell no. Would it have been simpler to buy one of Pulse-Eight's adapters? Of course. But I already had a Pi gathering dust, so why not just reuse that instead.

I have a few of them in our house, and like you said, they're just quietly working away. A couple of them are serving as motion-sensing security cameras, complete with email alerts. I just commented yesterday actually to someone about how I've not had to do a thing to them in well over a year. Their uptime might be over 2 years had I attached a battery backup to them.

I have an original Pi 1. When I first got it it was also collecting dust. Now it's on our boat, monitoring power, watching the bilge pumps, and uploading AIS traffic to marine traffic and aishub. And when sailing it pumps out instrument data to a smartwatch.

What it does is up to you, you are only limited by your imagination.

Any chance you have a writeup or blog post about the boat system? I'd be interested to read about the setup.

I recently acquired an old sailboat and have a couple of 1st gen Pis looking for a job- would be very interested in reading more about your system!

There is a project out there called freeboard-server it turns out boats NMEA data into html and json. Another project, kplex, multiplexes the boat data, NMEA, into something usable.

Most of this was done while we were on sabbatical. And we didn't have a lot of Internet access. But I'll try and compile my project into something presentable.

Add me to the list that would like to hear more about the boat monitor and AIS systems.

That was my fear before buying it. Now I have 10 or so.

I use them more or less this way:

-One for the TV, it lets me watch things that the smart TV can't.

-Three controlling my 3d printers with octoprint.

-Two on each car for recording video with cameras and GPS info.

-Three or so for controlling DSLR cameras and motors for panoramas, 3D scanning and so on.

They are extremely convenient for making things for other people(job or family), like prototypes, as I don't need to interface(or spend time) with their computers, I can just give them a computer!! all without breaking the bank.

Do you have any writeups on the last 2 items? They both interest me.

We use them for a customer facing display with a barcode scanner to register visits within our system and to give instructions based on capacity (wait for call or proceed). Not one of them failed us since the installation one year ago. And when it happens, we have a complete backup Pi ready to replace the broken one at every site because they are so damn cheap. Before the Pi ~$500 "mini" PCs where used.

It's really useful to have one lying around though. When I upgraded my home Mac to El Capitan, it stopped being able to talk to my old HP laserprinter. After I'd stopped cursing, I grabbed a Pi that was lying around waiting for some unfinished project, and had a linux print server up and running in about 30 mins.

As owner of a variety of hobbiest boards I'm not so sure all those pis are mostly lying around unused, it's just too easy to make them do useful stuff, as compared to the usual DIY board where you spend half your life battling some crappy patched kernel.

At my current office there is a pi behind every one of a bank of monitors hanging from the roof, at home I've got one doing file server in my cupboard, a non-tech buddy has one doing media centre duties, and so on.

I have three Raspberry Pi 1, model B and two Raspberry Pi Zeros.

Not a single one is in use.

And for running an emulator (SNES etc.) I will probably need another one with more power. Not sure what to do with the others right now.

The original pi and zero will run SNES fine. It's the beefier systems that you won't be able to run like PSX and N64. Give retropie a try and see for yourself.

Thank you very much for your comment. What do you think about Recalbox OS? Some people say it´s better than RetroPie, but I don´t know (and do not really care as long as it works).

I have three that are collecting dust. I had plans to build a supergamegirl, but with tablets so cheap, and work so busy . . .my ambitions for the pi's just died.

I also ended up buying a 50 dollar ubuntu intel computer stick which was great, and replaced the raspberry pi for emulation.

I have a friend who has a 3d printer and tons of electrical engineering gear, who just loves his, and does tons of products with them.

If you have a Raspberry Pi collecting dust somewhere, consider donating it. In some cities there are groups that refurbish and donate old computers to schools/NGOs/etc. They might give them a good use.

So are a lot of regular computers and phones.

So true. I'm sitting in an ad agency right now and I see at least half a dozen laptops and desktops abandoned on shelves.

I built a robot with mine:

https://blog.willj.net/category/robotics/

Mine sits there quietly, connected to a GPS receiver, providing a sub-millisecond accurate NTP source for my network.

Google Spanner uses GPS for database syncing. Maybe a cheap clone of it could use a Pi for that part. Indirectly, temporarily boost the RPi sales if it takes off.

Oh, that's a neat idea.

I've recently dusted off my original RPi that'd been collecting dust, installed the lite[1] non-X raspbian distro, and plan to see how long I can survive with it as my sole desktop at home, using my phone when I desperately need to check in with peoples cat and breakfast photos.

[1] I remember when 'lite' was 1.44mb, not 2.5gb

It does come with thousands of packages still installed. Check out the Arch distro, that should be much smaller.

Even without X, Raspbian ships the whole debian package development stack by default. That's over a hundred megabytes for GCC and co. – which makes sense for its intended role as teaching device.

Edit: Also, it ships with 100+ MiB worth of kernel drivers.

I've purchased a number of Pi's across the years. In most cases they have been used for projects or given to people that have a need for them. But in full disclosure, there are three Zeros and three Pi-3's waiting for their turn on the bench. Oh and a hoard of 64Gb SD cards from a really amazing after Christmas sale.

In my lab there are five of them that do a variety of tasks from adblock, media servers, file servers (and it's sister that does the offsite backups at a friends), ham radio stuff, etc.

I'm pretty excited about the new Pi Bakery software http://www.pibakery.org/ that makes it easy peasy to spin new ones up.

Yeah, probably a significant percentage. They're cheap enough that buying one, trying it out a few times, and then leaving it in a drawer won't bother you too much.

I think I've five (of different revisions), only one is in permanent use. Another is installed in a robot, and the rest are all collecting dust in a drawer or in a half-baked project bin.

I have 2 collecting dust, the other is a git server I'm not bothered to migrate to bitbucket.

One of my clients has just started using them as the smarts in its range of industrial tank controllers. I've persuaded them to open source one of the smaller hardware designs to put back to the community so there's another few hundred pi's that will be sold over the next few years. (http://rodyne.com/?p=754)

With the right power supply and watchdog controls and tons of information how to use them they are quite suitable for many non-critical automation tasks.

I have a couple of them. I've loved playing around with them. I'm currently using one as a controller for a camera system at my house.

£99+VAT is overpriced. Similar items can be bought for 60 USD (or even less), shipping included (buying at Amazon and/or eBay).

"This is an unashamedly premium product", says the webpage. The Pi was originally designed with re-using existing peripherals, and will be used that way most of the time, but there's still demand for a premium starter kit.

That's still twisting words. There's nothing "premium" here, it's just a kit. People should spend 50 bucks on a 2nd hand Core2Duo ThinkPad and some mcu for GPIO, they'll learn as much for less.

I agree. The eBay hand-me-down market is strong for high-performance gear in this range. I've also seen FPGA kits and SGI Altix servers at similar price. Nothing wrong with new products at various price points but lets not kid ourselves on their relative value.

I think people are too keen to dismiss the Pi's hardware without realising that that's not where the Pi foundation puts most of its efforts and staff: it's the educational materials that are the focus and the hardware is a means to deliver them.

In other words, if you can make use of an FPGA or an SGI you're not the primary target market. Even if more Pi have gone to hobbyists than children, the children are still the primary target market. It's an attempt to make educational technology that kids actually like.

I can easily put a Windows or Linux desktop on a hand-me-down with tons of learning potential. Likewise, things like Scratch language and OLPC were well-designed for kids to pick up with ease. RPi and its ecosystem are pretty complicated compared to most child-oriented products. So, how is it actually doing in the child market? Im curious.

Esp vs something like Lego Mindstorms.

Scratch on the Pi is quite popular.

The OLPC was in some ways the anti-inspiration for the Pi foundation, who wanted to learn from its failure. Lego Mindstorms are pretty good but much more expensive.

Again, more important than the actual hardware is the collateral, e.g. http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/by-subject/computing/ra... (OCR are one of the exam boards), which meets the bureaucratic criteria for use in schools and is targeted at teachers who may themselves not be very computer literate and need handholding.

The use of a standard platform rather than hand-me-downs avoids tripping up over incompatibility issues. Also, you can't bulk order hand-me-downs as easily. Whereas you can order a box of Pi devices and pre-installed SD cards and the whole thing works with almost no setup. Remember, you can't assume anyone in the school knows Linux.

I didn't realize they ported Scratch, factored in OLPC, and weighing OCR. Latter is especially smart as cash-strapped schools or states might find it desirable so long as it has necessary learning materials and software for instructors with it. I agree on compatibility benefit. I didnt realize they had put this much effort into the chilren angle.

Well, thanks for telling me! You got any links showing good progress or case studies in educational use where replication is doable without ultra-talented teachers?

> This is an unashamedly premium product: the latest Raspberry Pi, official accessories, the best USB peripherals we could find, and a copy of the highest-rated Raspberry Pi book.

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