Advise linux for x86 in a specialized device?

Question

linux

There is a device on the x86 platform (a controller that controls the movement along the axes of one mechanism).
Hardware is not very powerful (CPU ~ 1GHz, RAM ~ 1Gb, integrated video).

What you need from the distribution:
1. Stability.
2. Lightness (so that there is a minimum of excess).
3. Large community. (since it will be necessary to write a driver for boards + a graphical interface => so that there is someone to consult with).

Which distribution is best suited for this device?

PS So far I'm looking towards debian, but I have no experience with it. At home stands Arch.

To everyone who helps: thanks and plus in karma

Answer 1

I would recommend Debian. I have experience in a similar situation. It somehow took root in my brain for a long time: if you don’t know what to install, install Debian. Of course, it makes no sense to talk about the community, especially since writing drivers is not a distribution-specific topic.
By the way, there is also a minimal image - netinst .

Answer 2

There is also Ubuntu minimal, you can deliver what you need yourself https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD

Answer 3

If you really bother with minimalism and optimizations, then you can look towards Gentoo.
If you don’t bother, then, IMHO, almost any major distribution (Debian, for example) is quite suitable, since drivers and graphical interfaces, if I don’t confuse anything, are weakly dependent on the distribution.

Answer 4

If you look more towards stability, then Debian, if towards ease, then Arch.
I would look towards Debian, it is simple and does not require much specific knowledge. In addition, it has an organized community.

Answer 5

Yes, Debian will definitely be the best choice - there are a lot of packages, the system is stable and has been developing for a long time, and the community is quite large.

Answer 6

Debian. Put clean without anything and add what you need. It even seems like they want to put it on the ISS)

Answer 7

The debian community is alive and doesn't shit about anything (we won't point fingers at ubuntu and fedora). Arch - not worth it (well, or never update it later). Genta can also come up, but you should also be wary of updates.

Answer 8

for embedded solutions, we use gentoo, it couldn't be easier.

Answer 9

I had to do things like this. Maybe my thoughts will be useful:
1. "Minimum" distribution. If right now it’s really important to make it as small as possible, then the best option is not even Gentoo, but Linux From Scratch ( www.linuxfromscratch.org/index.html ). This is not even a distribution, but just a guide on how to create a system yourself from the source. At one time, I used it to make systems even as small as 1 floppy disk (1.44Mb!), And in general, the then old guides and various mini-Linux are now less relevant, but still they can be interesting.
The more modest the distribution will be, the less glitches and less incomprehensible processes in memory that eat both memory and CPU.
If the dimensions are not so critical, and you won’t shed blood for every saved kilobyte, then the distribution that you yourself are more familiar with is better. For me it would be debian or ubuntu, but it might be the other way around for you.
2. The GUI is very loosely tied to the distribution. You can write a GUI, for example, on Debian, and then run it on Gent by simply installing the necessary libraries. And in general - GUI - it's just a program, like firefox or vim - they don't write it for distribution, they just write it. And under the distribution, only then they file a little bit with a file.
3. Driver (kernel module) - generally does not depend on the distribution. Only the support of certain versions by the distribution is important. (for example, a driver from 2.6 will not work so easily on 3.0. Even sometimes inside 2.6 itself, after certain kernel changes, you need to slightly add a driver to the new version that was written for a slightly older version. But inside the branch, all these changes are always very small) .

Answer 10

Why not android? Or Pidora