4.1.2 Reviewing Major Operating Systems
4.1.2.1 Linux Related Operation Systems
● Raspbian
Raspbian is a free operating system optimized for Raspberry Pi hardware based on the Debian distribution. More than 35,000 pre-compiled programs within packages as well as a pure operating system are provided with bundle in a form that can be easily installed on Raspberry Pi.
4.1 Types of Operating System
4.1.1 List for Installable Operating Systems
● General purpose operation systems
■ Raspbian
■ Debian 6.0 (Squeeze)
■ Pidora (Fedora Remix)
■ Ubuntu
■ Occidentalis
Chapter 4 Installing Operating System
Chapter’s Main Topics
This chapter describes how to install and configure the operating system on your Raspberry Pi system. It introduces the types of operating systems that can be installed in Raspberry Pi, and it explains in detail the various ways to install the operating system actually.
It includes descriptions on the following topics:
■ Type of Operating system
■ Overview of installing operating system
■ Preparing an SD card
■ Installation using utility
■ Installation using operating system image
3.9 Camera
With Raspberry Pi, you can also use the camera to record various types of pictures or record movies. There are many kinds of cameras that can be connected to Raspberry Pi, and there are two types of camera that supports USB camera and supports CSI port of Raspberry Pi on a large scale.
3.9.1 USB Camera
The USB camera is easily available on the market. It is connected to the USB port and does not need any special installation work.
3.8.2 TFT-LCD
Raspberry Pi supports DSI (Digital Serial Interface) connection to support TFT-LCD display. You may purchase and use parts that support DSI port among the items sold on the market, and then it is not easy to obtain such a TFT-LCD in reality.
Below is the 7 “Touchscreen Monitor LCD with 800 x 480 display, officially sold by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. This allows you to display all information on the LCD like a tablet. This LCD connects to its own adapter board, and the adapter board is connected to the DSI port on the main board of Raspberry Pi by a ribbon cable, and is supplied with power through the GPIO port. The latest Raspbian operating system already integrates touchscreen driver that supports a 10-finger touch and on-screen keyboard, so you can operate the system without using a mouse or keyboard.
3.8 Video Output
3.8.1 HDMI Cable and HDMI Supporting Monitor
Raspberry Pi supports HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) output as basic video output, and supports HDMI video port on board.
If you want to connect Raspberry Pi to an external display device using HDMI video port, you need HDMI Type-A cable. A video image of Raspberry Pi will be output through this cable.
3.7.2 Mouse
Raspberry Pi works well without a mouse connection. You may not need a mouse when using Raspberry Pi for a special purpose. You may also not need a mouse to connect to Raspberry Pi only via the network. However, it may be convenient to use a mouse when you need to purchase Raspberry Pi and install the operating system or install applications.
3.7 Input Device
3.7.1 Keyboard
Raspberry Pi works fine even if keyboard is not connected. Keyboard may not be necessary when you connect and use Raspberry Pi to a machine or facility or for other special purposes. Also, when connecting to Raspberry Pi only via network, you may not need a keyboard either. But when you need to purchase Raspberry Pi and install an operating system or install an application at first, you have to connect a keyboard.
3.6.4 Bluetooth Adapter
Bluetooth communication is usually used for mobile devices such as mobile phones to connect directly to a computer at a short distance, not through the network, to listen to music or videos, and to upload or download files. If you want to connect to a computer wirelessly using Bluetooth communication, both computers connected to each other must support Bluetooth function.
3.6.3 WI-FI Adapter
If you do not want to connect a specific computer to the network by cable and want to connect wirelessly, both the computer and the network access device must support the Wi-Fi function.
Figure 3‑6 WI-FI adapter
If you want to connect to the network using Wi-Fi in Raspberry Pi, you need to have a device that supports Wi-Fi network in Raspberry. The newest model, the Raspberry Pi 3 model B, provides Wi-Fi as standard, so you do not need to prepare a separate device, but if you want to use Wi-Fi on the previous model, you can buy Wi-Fi parts that support USB port . There are various types of USB Wi-Fi available on the market, so you can buy your favorite items.