I needed to setup a temporary workstation in the home office where I could do some internet research without tying up a high powered computer just to browse the web so I decided to try the raspberry pi for a spin. I have a raspberry pi version 3 that I got for one project, and it’s got some decent spec: 1.2GHz 64 bit quad core ARM CPU, 1 GB of RAM, Ethernet, integrated WiFi (no more separate dongle like the raspberry pi 2), SD card, 4 USB ports and plenty of GPIO for science projects. To see how far the raspberry have since it first came out in 2012, here’s an older interview from 2013 with Eben Upton, one of the pi creator. Now over 5 millions raspberry pis have been sold.
Since the pi comes with HDMI output only, you either have to use it with a TV or get a HDMI to DVI adapter, which is what I did, to plug it into a standard monitor. Add a keyboard and a mouse and you got yourself a computer!There are quite a few online tutorials about pros and cons of using the pi as a PC so I won’t repeat them, the only thing I changed from the stock Debian distribution was to add the Iceweasel browser so I could use the Firefox add-ons I am familiar with. If you hard wire the Ethernet cable then the network setup is automatic and you can start surfing the net right away, otherwise just right click on the WiFi icon, select your access point and enter the password and you’re good to go!
Libre office comes standard with the out of the box distribution, although I have not tried it yet to see what the performances would be.
Overall this has a been a great research workstation. It’s truly amazing the amount of engineering that went into the single board computer and all the software that runs on it. Stay tuned for more articles on all the projects we’ll be doing with the raspberry pi.
Just to prove my point, this very article is typed on the pi ….
