[Nursie]

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...

[idiotsecant]

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.

[Nursie]

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.