| Distro | Philosophy | Boot Image Format | |--------|------------|-------------------| | | Optimised, stable, board‑aware | Raw .img with U‑Boot | | Raspberry Pi OS | RPi‑only, desktop‑friendly | Raw .img (but RPi‑specific boot) | | Ubuntu for IoT | Generic ARM64, less optimisation | Preinstalled .img or installer | | Arch Linux ARM | Minimal, rolling, DIY | Rootfs tarball (you add bootloader) | | Buildroot | Embedded, static, tiny | Custom .img (no package manager) |
: Armbian offers a high degree of customization. Users can choose from various desktop environments, and the minimal images allow for a build-from-scratch approach for advanced users.
: CLI only; best for performance and headless use.
Clone the repo: git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/armbian/build Run the script: ./compile.sh