(11-08-2021, 02:51 PM)Dendrocalamus64 Wrote: It never stuck out to me in the long list of supported distributions on Rockpro64.
A few of those are actually based on Armbian. lol So you can expect them to go away if Armbian does.
Anyway, to your broader point, Armbian guys strike me as a small handful of very technically inclined types, so maybe marketing is not their strong suit. Which is part of why I am trying to help get the word out.
But they do make a very stable and reliable distro. And give a consistent experience across a (very!) wide range of hardware. All due respect to other projects, but I personally do not really think all the distros on that supported list are created equal.
(11-08-2021, 07:14 PM)TRS-80 Wrote: (11-08-2021, 02:51 PM)Dendrocalamus64 Wrote: It never stuck out to me in the long list of supported distributions on Rockpro64.
A few of those are actually based on Armbian. lol So you can expect them to go away if Armbian does.
Anyway, to your broader point, Armbian guys strike me as a small handful of very technically inclined types, so maybe marketing is not their strong suit. Which is part of why I am trying to help get the word out.
But they do make a very stable and reliable distro. And give a consistent experience across a (very!) wide range of hardware. All due respect to other projects, but I personally do not really think all the distros on that supported list are created equal.
I just read that Armbian will probably only support ubuntu based images from now on and are dropping Debian based images unless the board maintainer wishes to make it an option , but it technically wont be supported.
link to discussion
(11-24-2021, 06:35 AM)GreyLinux Wrote: (11-08-2021, 07:14 PM)TRS-80 Wrote: (11-08-2021, 02:51 PM)Dendrocalamus64 Wrote: It never stuck out to me in the long list of supported distributions on Rockpro64.
A few of those are actually based on Armbian. lol So you can expect them to go away if Armbian does.
Anyway, to your broader point, Armbian guys strike me as a small handful of very technically inclined types, so maybe marketing is not their strong suit. Which is part of why I am trying to help get the word out.
But they do make a very stable and reliable distro. And give a consistent experience across a (very!) wide range of hardware. All due respect to other projects, but I personally do not really think all the distros on that supported list are created equal.
I just read that Armbian will probably only support ubuntu based images from now on and are dropping Debian based images unless the board maintainer wishes to make it an option , but it technically wont be supported.
link to discussion
This news doesn't surprise me at all. Promises of newly released boards with LTS 2023 and beyond only to find those promises are empty will not encourage anyone to buy products from this manufacturer. From the Rock64 to the RockPro64 only for the guys at Armbian I'd have dumped these boards at this stage.
There's more to successful SBC's than shiny new processors with all the bells and whistles. Looking at an SBC switched on with a few flashing LEDs is hardly inspiring. The software under the bonnet matters too. Community input while very welcome cannot be always relied upon. The manufacturers need to work in parallel with the likes of the team at Armbian to guarantee the longevity of their products.
While I do understand these boards are aimed at the tinkerer community surely you don't expect every owner to be a kernel designer. If that's the case you can revise your projected sales figures downward dramatically.
I really do suggest you resolve this issue otherwise you can expect a very negative response from your user base. There are too many alternatives on the market these days for users to have to jump through hoops just to get these boards to boot.
I ran an update today on an Armbian Desktop installed on a RockPro64. It shows Ubuntu 20.04 is the operating system now. This concurs with what I know of the situation.
With my RockPro64 servers I updated these by November 30th. They are showing Debian 11. I have my apt sources pulling from debian.org
My conclusion: Bullet dodged. I really like the RockPro64 servers for my home business. What especially appeals to me is the low electricity each unit draws.
12-08-2021, 11:42 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-08-2021, 11:42 AM by TRS-80.)
(11-24-2021, 06:35 AM)GreyLinux Wrote: I just read that Armbian will probably only support ubuntu based images from now on and are dropping Debian based images unless the board maintainer wishes to make it an option , but it technically wont be supported.
link to discussion
This is not exactly true. The main and important points are in OP. The situation is still in flux. But mainly, this is a call for help. What ends up being "Supported" really depends upon who steps up and for what, as the small Armbian team have been quite over extended for some time already.
N.B. that "Supported" also has some specific meaning within Armbian. A big part of this whole initiative has also been trying to clarify and publish exactly what that does mean, as there has been a lot of confusion around the topic. Even if some boards are moved from "Supported" to "CSC" (Community Support), .debs will still be generated, board definitions will still exist within the build tool, etc.; it would only be complete flashable images which would go away from the projects download infrastructure (which is also being taxed heavily, see OP). You would still be able to use the build tool to make your own images. And yet I keep reading people saying "Armbian is dropping support!!!111!!!!" which simply is not true.
02-05-2022, 05:43 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-05-2022, 05:48 PM by TRS-80.)
A number of people have answered Armbian's call for help.
Initially, there was an internal spreadsheet which was being used to track newly signed up Board Maintainers. Recently I decided to take that and convert it into Markdown and make it a part of Armbian's public documentation. The result can now be seen here: Board Maintainers.
Relevant to OP, rockpro64 has been covered. Even though joek seems like a serious hacker to me, he is only one guy. And he is new to the project AFAICT.
On a broader scope, there are still a number of boards where no Maintainer have stepped up (blank lines in table).
So, in general, if you care about Armbian, maybe start to get a little more involved. If you are unsure of your ability to be a Board Maintainer, you could begin in a secondary role, hang around, and learn. You can learn a lot even simply reading the forums (I know I certainly have over the years). I modified the table specifically to allow for this (multiple Maintainers possible for each board). Because I am a big believer that 'many hands make light work.'
There has also been a lot of trouble around this word 'Supported' which has a particular meaning within Armbian. As can be seen in this very thread, upon announcement that 'Support is being dropped' resulted in many people thinking the sky was falling, Armbian no longer works or any other such nonsense. None of which are true, as I tried to point out here and elsewhere. Anyway I have proposed perhaps some different terms around this which hopefully should better communicate the realities of the underlying complexities. Stay tuned.
02-20-2022, 03:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-20-2022, 03:22 AM by NightCrawler504.)
Although said list currently shows a maintainer, rockpro64 download page has a looking for maintainer and images are now old images of cli, what really makes me think list is not up to date is that there have been no builds uploaded since last year while other boards started having new uploads early this month (02/2022) it's sad cause Twister was doing a nice job with board but it's armbian based and already root directories from apt have been erased from the apt libraries so hoping someone with the knowledge can step on the plate cause to date there is no solid all round distro that can take advantage of the boards hardware and after Mr Fix It armbian was coming close.
(02-20-2022, 03:19 AM)NightCrawler504 Wrote: rockpro64 download page has a looking for maintainer
Many things are still in flux in the project, due to recent changes. After all the dust settles, some of these other things will end up getting updated, eventually, I am sure.
(02-20-2022, 03:19 AM)NightCrawler504 Wrote: what really makes me think list is not up to date is that there have been no builds uploaded since last year while other boards started having new uploads early this month (02/2022) [...] already root directories from apt have been erased from the apt libraries
I can assure you that list is the most up to date information available.
Everything else you are mentioning is a function of the target being removed from the automated build system (which sounds like it may have been done some time ago, if what you are saying is correct). However, as always, it is still possible to build your own images. It's not even that hard, actually.
Armbian has always been, first and foremost, a build tool after all. The fact that they/we publish images is just a secondary convenience for users. But that was one of main things which was re-evaluated recently.
Happy to hear this, guess Joe will carry us forward, don't mind at all building images, since pig is out guess its time to try something new, mostly interested in kernel updates thought. I'll see what's available, thanks for answering, I'll browse around see if I can find what requirements are needed for tester, I'm sure maintainer is above my head but maybe help out a little with testing of possible.
Even being capable to build and test is good enough to be a secondary maintainer (tester/helper, whatever you like to call it). The more troubleshooting one can do of course helps the developers even more. But just building and testing release candidates, kernels, patches can help a lot.
It's also about hanging around forums/IRC (when you have time / 'best effort') and trying to help other people with that board, be aware of problems people report. Maybe make a bug report. Each of these things take some load off the developers, who are then freed up to spend their time and attention on the more difficult bugs/development.
If you are interested, just drop by forums or IRC/Matrix and say hello! Anyone can also apply to be a Board Maintainer, as you can see I already covered most of those requirements.
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