DietPi VS build

DietPi is a lightweight Debian based Linux distribution for SBCs and server systems, with the option to install desktop environments, too. It ships as minimal image but allows to install complete and ready-to-use software stacks with a set of console based shell dialogs and scripts.

The source code is hosted on GitHub: https://github.com/MichaIng/DietPi

That's a good point, but the array of devices supported by the DietPi team is extensive: https://dietpi.com/

Before someone starts the usual yadda yadda about the RPi biger community, the OS not having long time support etc. I would repeat one more time: do not rely on board vendor supplied images; this is valid for pretty much all boards. Just go to Armbian or DietPi pages and you'll almost certainly find one or more images that work on your board and forums to discuss about them with very knowledgeable people.

https://www.armbian.com/download/

https://dietpi.com/#download

Those projects are well worth a contribution, as they don't have a giant like Broadcom behind them.

> bananapi do a lot of boards but their software story has been a bit poor

This is quite common with other board manufacturers too. I'd rather suggest to ignore completely their cobbled together distros, often also tainted by proprietary modifications, that become unmaintained in a few years, and see if they're among the many supported by Armbian or DietPi.

https://www.armbian.com/download/

https://dietpi.com/#download

The full release notes can be found at: https://dietpi.com/docs/releases/v8_25/

RPi OS = diet pi https://dietpi.com/ - initial config via text file - SDcard burning out partially mitigated as writes log files to ram then flushes to SDcard reducing write cycles

You could also try very minimalistic distros like TwisterUI or DietPi which are most known for their use in the RasprebbyPi / SBC computers but which also have editions for desktop / laptop.

https://github.com/armbian/build

There isn't any hypervisor running on that and still no SVE

The number of boards supported by these two distros is astonishing:

https://www.armbian.com/download/

https://dietpi.com/#download

The NanoPC-T6 is already supported by Armbian build system:

https://github.com/armbian/build/tree/main/config/boards

It's my understanding that https://www.armbian.com/ has quite broad hardware support, and there are boards from Orange Pi and Pine64 that boast actual mainline kernel support, so this is more a case of a fragmented ecosystem than there being zero competitors that can meet or exceed pis.

The normal Raspberry Pi OS Lite is pretty okay.

https://www.armbian.com/ is also pretty awesome and also supports bunch of other RaspberryPi clones for cheaper price.

git clone https://github.com/armbian/build cd build ./compile.sh BOARD=orangepi5-plus RELEASE=jammy BUILD_MINIMAL=yes KERNEL_GIT=full BUILD_DESKTOP=no BUILD_ONLY="u-boot,kernel,armbian-config,armbian-zsh,bootstrap" KERNEL_CONFIGURE=no

If the SBC is supported by Armbian then the software support is usually pretty good.

https://www.armbian.com/

I use an old Android media player, repurposed with Ubuntu OS instead of Android (https://www.armbian.com/). Works fine, cost me nothing ($40 originally AFAIK, but it was being retired anyway). It has low power consumption, good reliability, more-than-adequate performance for HA and Plex media server. Equipped with multiple USB ports, ethernet, WiFi, HDMI.