On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 12:13 PM, Luc Verhaegen <l...@skynet.be> wrote: > On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 11:46:27AM +0300, 'Simos Xenitellis' via linux-sunxi > wrote: >> On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 5:24 PM, Simos Xenitellis < >> simos.li...@googlemail.com> wrote: >> >> > Hi All, >> > >> > The Linux Foundation and Linux Gizmos are running (also) this year a >> > survey on small-board computers, >> > 1. >> > http://www.linux.com/news/embedded-mobile/mobile-linux/831550-survey-best-linux-hacker-sbcs-for-under-200 >> > 2. >> > http://linuxgizmos.com/rate-these-sub-200dollar-hacker-sbcs-win-one-of-20/ >> > >> > This year they include 54 SBCs, out of which 12 are based on Allwinner >> > SoCs, >> > a. Two from Olimex >> > b. One from SinoVoip >> > c. One from LeMaker >> > d. Three from CubieTech >> > e. Three from LinkSprite >> > f. Two from Shenzhen Xunlong Software >> > >> > The result of the survey is to produce a Top 10 list based on popularity. >> > The purpose of the survey appears to be to gauge interest in open designs >> > of boards and get manufacturers to work towards that direction. >> > >> > Here are the guidelines for the inclusion of a new board to the list, >> > >> > http://linuxgizmos.com/rate-your-favorite-open-single-board-computers/#open-sbc-guidelines >> > >> > If a company is producing developer boards and satisfy the requirements >> > for inclusion, they can provide five boards to the Linux Foundation so that >> > they are given away to those that took the survey. At this survey, there >> > are four different boards to be given away and none has an Allwinner SoC. >> > >> > Here is the survey, >> > https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2015SBCS >> > >> > >> > >> The 2015 Hacker SBC Survey has ended and here are the results, >> http://linuxgizmos.com/raspberry-pi-stays-sky-high-in-2015-hacker-sbc-survey/ >> >> Specifically, >> >> 1. The survey had a special feature where you picked three SBCs depending >> on how favorite they were to you. >> Then, it would triple the votes for Choice #1, double the votes for Choice >> #2 and extract the results. >> Obviously, such a method favors what has been put as Choice #1, the most >> favorite. >> >> 2. At positions #1 and #3, the Raspberry Pi 2 and Raspberry Pi >> respectively. Yep, the single core Raspberry Pi got third place. >> 3. At position #2 was the BeagleBone Black. >> >> 4. In the top ten, there were three ODROID SBCs. ODROID is doing a great >> job in promoting their boards. >> They have a great page showcasing what you can do with their boards (such >> as >> http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G141578608433), >> they have a monthly magazine at http://magazine.odroid.com/ and their forum >> is very active. >> >> 5. Out of the 53 Small Board Computers in the competition, there were no >> Allwinner boards this year in the top Ten. >> 6. An easy comparison of the specs for the Top Ten is at >> http://files.linuxgizmos.com/2015-hacker-sbc-survey-top-10-sbc-specs-comparison.jpg >> It is interesting to notice that several Mali and PowerVR GPUs make it to >> the top ten. >> >> 7. The Raspberry Pis have the Videocode IV GPU. When the first RPi board >> was released, it did not have a free driver for the GPU. >> Two years later, Broadcom released some source and documentation which were >> not sufficient. >> The turning point was in June 2014 when Eric Anholt was employed by >> Broadcom to write a free driver for VC4, >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VideoCore#Linux_support >> >> 8. There were three Cubieboard models which got 357 points >> and two OLinuXino models that got 195 points. >> 9. In the 2014 SBC Survey, the Banana Pi got the fifth place. >> This year, the companies (LeMaker, SinoVoip) that made the Banana Pi >> decided to split, creating their separate products. >> The SinoVoip board got 14th place, the LeMaker got the 16th place. >> 10. The Orange Pi was quite low in the ranking (too new entrant for the >> survey). >> >> 11. Among the buying criteria, the highest was "Open source software >> support" (sic). >> Next came the "Community ecosystem". >> I think these two are critical for the success of an SBC, and companies >> that make SBCs, >> should make effort to create such communities. >> >> Simos > > Amazing how you left the following snippet out: > > "One processor trend did seem clear, however, judging both from the > selections and reader comments. The open source community appears to be > increasingly frustrated with Allwinner’s Linux support. While three > Allwinner based boards made last year’s top 10, there are none this > year. After the 11th Place Cubieboard4, with its octacore Allwinner A80, > the next Allwinner board on the list is the A31-based Banana Pi M2 at > number 14." >
Frankly, I did not notice that sentence while skimming the article. I would not have a reason not to mention it since you would definitely discover it. What the RPi and ODroid do really well, is that they have a great active community, and that includes support even in non-technical levels. Even the ODROID-C1 does not fully support yet the mainline Linux kernel, http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=111&t=8288 but the person working at the forum is there to answer honestly with "Because the C1 Kernel had been heavily customized too much by SoC vendor, it is not easy to port the mainline kernel. If you really want to run the mainline Kernel, do NOT buy our C1 board. Sorry about that." With such an honest answer, I would go buy an ODROID-C1. What have been missing from the Allwinner dev boards is good community/support from CubieTech, SinoVoip/LeMaker (their split was really unfortunate, they do terrible promotion on social networks, etc). The person behind Orange Pi looks very active, however there is again the language barrier and the need to better present their products internationally. I do not have experience with Olimex and what can be improved. > People would think that that is the most relevant statement in that > whole survey, but not a hint of it can be seen in your email. > > Stop trying to distort the truth. > > Similarly, i cannot find any mention of your point 7 in that article. > That's my addition and a comment to the GPU stats for the Top 10. The SoC market is quite competitive, and to make it, you need to do things better than the competitors. You would need to put priorities but still, the lack of a fully free GPU driver is not so critical. However, if some SoCs have such a free GPU driver, then the rest need to follow or put much more effort in the other aspects. Simos > But thanks for reminding me that that would not have happened if it was > not for the fact that i did lima, and that i "corrected" the Raspberry > Pi Foundations big but ultimately statement late 2012. > > Luc Verhaegen. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "linux-sunxi" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to linux-sunxi+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "linux-sunxi" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to linux-sunxi+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
