I have two ideas I’d like discuss:
Firstly, about the Raspberry Pi (RP). RP is one of the most popular single board computers out there, especially among newcomers. However, the installation of FreedomBox (FB) is rather difficult on these devices. Users have two options.
The first option is that they go for the arm image and take the struggle to install the additional UEFI.
The second option is that they choose the Debian tested images. The tested images don’t require the additional UEFI and they can be transformed into a FB using the command line method. This method is complicated too.
- The RP has to be connected to a monitor and a keyboard.
- The HDMI connector is not the standard one, and most people don’t have a Micro HDMI cable at home.
- These steps are unavoidable, as the Debian system comes with an empty password, so there is no way to connect to it using SSH.
- The NetworkManager has to be configured.
- After installing the system and compliting the First Boot Setup, the server has to be restarted, otherwise installation of apps fails.
Apart from these, the system with the second option (at least for Bullseye, which I use at home), works very well. If we had a FB images based on the tested Debian image, that is modified, so it eliminates all these difficulties, we could win a lot of new users. FB could be available from the RP Imager and retailers would be happy to sell RP kits with FB preinstalled, the same way they sell them with LibreElec SD cards.
The other thing is less lengthy: what do you think of Gerbera? Do you think it could be part of FB?