Armbian

A Debian/Ubuntu-based distribution built for the huge and fragmented world of ARM single-board computers beyond just Raspberry Pi, providing a consistent build system and board-specific kernels.

Embedded & IoTembeddedsingle-board-computerARMDebian-basedserver-focusedDownload ↗Official site ↗Docs / Wiki ↗

Based on

Debian / Ubuntu

First released

2014

Package manager

APT (.deb)

Desktop environments

None by default (server-focused; several desktop options installable)

Armbian addresses a real gap Raspberry Pi OS doesn't cover: the sprawling ecosystem of other ARM single-board computers (Orange Pi, Rock Pi, Odroid, and dozens more boards from many manufacturers) each with their own quirks, needing their own carefully tuned kernel and bootloader configuration to actually work reliably. It provides a shared build framework and consistent user experience across that fragmented hardware landscape, with board-specific images maintained by a community that tracks each supported board's particular hardware-enablement needs. It's the go-to choice for anyone running a non-Raspberry-Pi ARM SBC who wants a well-supported, actively maintained Debian/Ubuntu base rather than a manufacturer's own often poorly-maintained stock image.

MirrorNest doesn't mirror distro ISOs — installation media should always come straight from the project's own official download page (linked above), so you get the correct checksum/signature to verify against.