Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
he Raspberry Pi, by contrast, is designed to run an operating system called GNU/Linux—
hereafter referred to simply as Linux. Unlike Windows or OS X, Linux is open source: it's
possible to download the source code for the entire operating system and make whatever
changes you desire. Nothing is hidden, and all changes are made in full view of the public.
his open source development ethos has allowed Linux to be quickly altered to run on the
Raspberry Pi, a process known as
porting.
At the time of this writing, several versions of
Linux—known as
distributions
—have been ported to the Raspberry Pi's BCM2835 chip,
including Debian, Fedora Remix and Arch Linux.
he diferent distributions cater to diferent needs, but they all have something in common:
they're all open source. hey're also all, by and large, compatible with each other: software
written on a Debian system will operate perfectly well on Arch Linux and vice versa.
Linux isn't exclusive to the Raspberry Pi. Hundreds of diferent distributions are available for
desktops, laptops and even mobile devices; and Google's popular Android platform is devel-
oped on top of a Linux core. If you ind that you enjoy the experience of using Linux on the
Raspberry Pi, you could consider adding it to other computing devices you use as well. It will
happily coexist with your current operating system, allowing you to enjoy the beneits of
both while giving you a familiar environment when your Pi is unavailable.
As with the diference between ARM and x86, there's a key point to make about the practical
diference between Windows, OS X and Linux: software written for Windows or OS X won't
run on Linux. hankfully, there are plenty of compatible alternatives for the overwhelming
majority of common software products—better still, the majority are free to use and as open
source as the operating system itself.
Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi
Now that you have a basic understanding of how the Pi difers from other computing devices,
it's time to get started. If you've just received your Pi, take it out of its protective anti-static
bag and place it on a lat, non-conductive surface before continuing with this chapter.
Connecting a Display
Before you can start using your Raspberry Pi, you're going to need to connect a display. he
Pi supports three diferent video outputs: composite video, HDMI video and DSI video.
Composite video and HDMI video are readily accessible to the end user, as described in this
section, while DSI video requires some specialised hardware.
Composite Video
Composite video, available via the yellow-and-silver port at the top of the Pi known as an
RCA phono
connector
(see Figure 1-2), is designed for connecting the Raspberry Pi to older
display devices. As the name suggests, the connector creates a composite of the colours
