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by tgsovlerkhgsel 339 days ago
The popularity and usefulness of many devices like the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi doesn't stem from the hardware capabilities, but the "communities of scale" (lots of people use it -> it's much easier to find compatible software, hardware, guides etc.)

I would expect this to be the same for the Flipper Zero.
2 comments
Nursie 339 days ago
On the one hand, sure it has a big effect, especially with hardware addons.

But on the other, I think this is overstated, I lose count of how many "How to X on Raspberry Pi" pages I've seen that were really "How to X on linux" or at best "How to X on embedded Linux". Often they were worse than existing "How to X on linux" resources but picked up traction because of the association with a popular board.

But then I'm just an old curmudgeon who's been messing with embedded linux since long before there was a RPi...

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idiotsecant 339 days ago
You're not the audience that is going to Google 'how to connect eBay humidity sensor to raspberry pi'. You have to remember that there is an experience gradient, and everyone starts somewhere.
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Nursie 339 days ago
You’re not wrong, I guess my point is that “the community” that produces guides and tools may be wider than the specific popular device, whether deliberately or by accident.

Everyone does start somewhere, and as much as the breathlessness over Raspberry Pi in the early days irritated me (many people seemed to think there had been no Linux on ARM before then), you absolutely can’t fault them for building a community and getting people interested in the whole area, and lowering the informational barriers to entry.

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0xEF 339 days ago
True, but while there is a decent sized Flipper Zero community, I found it to be significantly smaller and less prone to fresh development than the other two you mentioned by comparison. The Flipper Zero is stunted by a good portion of that community being individuals who want a pocket hack toy without having to do any work to make it go, resulting in perceived stagnation of the device.

Perhaps I missed something when I owned mine? So many people I encountered in said community really just wanted a wifi deauther, which could have been built or purchased in a variety of cheaper ways. I got bored with it quickly, and returned to doing interesting things with Arduino and ESP32, but YMMV.

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