Raspberry PI Questions

[Made In Canada]

To anyone who knows what this little pc thing is or owns one, can you please explain what this thing can do or what its used for?

 

Someone i know advised this thing for multiple uses, however, the one i can remember is as a portable/ backup pc.  When i looked it up, i found reviews talking about linux things, weather systems with sensors, and just a ton of other stuff and im interested to know just what these are (not these two things in specific but in general what its used for and what do the things its used for means, as well as if i should try these).

 

I also want to know what i would use this for while im on my main rig.  The raspberry pi version i am looking at is the raspberry pi 2 model B.

 

Any help is appreciated.

[toogamer]

It is just a very useful Linux ARM computer that can do many things for a low price. It can basically control electrical things with the GPIO pins or be a low power PC but it can't do CPU heavy tasks. It is in the end just meant for random crap that Linux can do.

[Made In Canada]

It is just a very useful Linux ARM computer that can do many things for a low price. It can basically control electrical things with the GPIO pins or be a low power PC but it can't do CPU heavy tasks. It is in the end just meant for random crap that Linux can do.

Im sorry but what is a linux?  When i looked it up it just talks about more stuff i dont know.

 

The more detail and how you do so the better please.

[Nico559]

I've seen it play 1080p videos perfectly fine, for that reason I wouldn't mind having one.  When I'm not gaming, let my rig sit back while Netflix, whatever on the Pi.  Would be nifty.

[Nico559]

Im sorry but what is a linux?  When i looked it up it just talks about more stuff i dont know.

 

The more detail and how you do so the better please.

Linux is an operating system.  It's more of a media.. work PC type operating system.  It's free for everyone to use.   Most of Windows programs aren't compatible with it, however Linux comes with their own versions.  Little to no gaming available on Linux.  A Pi is a barebones little system with a barebones little Linux, just enough to check your email, bank, youtube, netflix etc, the little things.

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2918397/how-to-get-started-with-linux-a-beginners-guide.html

[Made In Canada]

I've seen it play 1080p videos perfectly fine, for that reason I wouldn't mind having one.  When I'm not gaming, let my rig sit back while Netflix, whatever on the Pi.  Would be nifty.

I want to do this but as dumb as it sounds, might feel bad doing this because ive been told it is built for educational purposes and how the company is little to none profit.

 

Should i feel bad if i used it for youtube, netflix, etc, or just as a portable/ backup pc?

Edited November 11, 2015 by Made In Canada

[Made In Canada]

Linux is an operating system.  It's more of a media.. work PC type operating system.  It's free for everyone to use.   Most of Windows programs aren't compatible with it, however Linux comes with their own versions.  Little to no gaming available on Linux.  A Pi is a barebones little system with a barebones little Linux, just enough to check your email, bank, youtube, netflix etc, the little things.

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2918397/how-to-get-started-with-linux-a-beginners-guide.html

Okay cool.  If you dont mind me asking, any idea on how i can make it do these crazy things people talk about?

 

It is just a very useful Linux ARM computer that can do many things for a low price. It can basically control electrical things with the GPIO pins or be a low power PC but it can't do CPU heavy tasks. It is in the end just meant for random crap that Linux can do.

Same question in this post ^^^

[Nico559]

Okay cool.  If you dont mind me asking, any idea on how i can make it do these crazy things people talk about?

What .. crazy things do they talk about? 

[GrmanRodriguez]

A Raspberry Pi is basically a mini computer as everyone said. Yes it can be used as a personal computer but you can do a lot more stuff (just Google "raspberry pi cool projects"), basically anything that you can do on a PC that requires low computing power can be adapted to the small and convenient form factor of the Pi. I've seen people use Arduino (like a Pi just even simpler) and it requires coding, however most of the code you can already find online and you can copypaste it if you don't want to learn. I assume Pi works similarly.

What you have to remember is that this is in principle a learning device to teach people into electronics and programming. That means some things but mostly that it is very intuitive and doing cool stuff with the Pi is simple enough.

[Made In Canada]

What .. crazy things do they talk about? 

Network intrusion detection systems, firewalls, doing light-regular server tasks, more network stuff, weather system network (or something like that), and (if what i think i saw was correct) a security sytem for your home (i believe there is a kit for this at around $150 but i could be/ may be wrong).

[Nico559]

Network intrusion detection systems, firewalls, doing light-regular server tasks, more network stuff, weather system network (or something like that), and (if what i think i saw was correct) a security sytem for your home (i believe there is a kit for this at around $150 but i could be/ may be wrong).

Well, the only thing I can comment on is the security system for your home.  If it's an IP camera system, sure.  It'd be very simple. 

Everything else you listed went over my head, with as much as I know about Pis being rather minimal.

[Made In Canada]

A Raspberry Pi is basically a mini computer as everyone said. Yes it can be used as a personal computer but you can do a lot more stuff (just Google "raspberry pi cool projects"), basically anything that you can do on a PC that requires low computing power can be adapted to the small and convenient form factor of the Pi. I've seen people use Arduino (like a Pi just even simpler) and it requires coding, however most of the code you can already find online and you can copypaste it if you don't want to learn. I assume Pi works similarly.

What you have to remember is that this is in principle a learning device to teach people into electronics and programming. That means some things but mostly that it is very intuitive and doing cool stuff with the Pi is simple enough.

1.  Can you code on the pi as well?

2.  Should i feel guilty/ bad for wanting to use this very low price divice built for educational purposes, as a backup, main, or portable pc as well as using it for various things such as youtube, netflix, etc, and more?

[Made In Canada]

Well, the only thing I can comment on is the security system for your home.  If it's an IP camera system, sure.  It'd be very simple. 

Everything else you listed went over my head, with as much as I know about Pis being rather minimal.

Okay, was just asking due to curiosity.

 

Thank You for the help.

[Nico559]

Should i feel bad if i used it for youtube, netflic, etc, or just as a portable/ backup pc?

No way.  In the back of my mind, as I sit here typing this, listening to youtube.  I could be doing this on a Pi instead of putting hours on my CPU, GPU, Fans, PSU, EVERYTHING. 

Either buy a Pi or grab a little $300 laptop with HDMI out.

[GrmanRodriguez]

1.  Can you code on the pi as well?

2.  Should i feel guilty/ bad for wanting to use this very low price divice built for educational purposes, as a backup, main, or portable pc as well as using it for various things such as youtube, netflix, etc, and more?

1. I wouldn't be able to tell you since I haven't used one but I'd say you should be able to

2. Of course not. It's your Pi you can use it for whatever you want. Plus, a portable PC is project on its own! Some applications you should be guilty for are: Paper stopper, pet rock replacement, frisbee, toilet paper, you get the idea..

[SteveGrabowski0]

You could use the Raspberry Pi 2 to run emulated games too. Light stuff like NES, SNES, Genesis, Amiga, MAME, Commodore 64, DOS, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, it can even run PS1 games reasonably well from what I have seen. It really is an interesting piece of hardware.

[Made In Canada]

It really is an interesting piece of hardware.

Agreed its interesting.

 

As for the games, i would need to think about that.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Made In Canada