10-14-2018, 07:27 AM
Yeah, Beagleboard.org now has a version of Debian for the BeagleBone boards. I have a few of these as well as a BeagelBone Blue that I am using for learning ROS. They are a different animal than the Raspberry Pi, but I see them accomplishing separate purposes. The issue with the Pi is that is a closed source architecture so you could not take that same platform, outside of using the whole board, and use it in a custom product. The BeagleBone on the other hand is open source and you could take the same AM335x MCU and use it in a shippable product. They have been a bit slow with keeping up with the Pi, but the Pi has the whole ecosystem around it that is tough to match from other vendors. Sort of like Arduino. Plus the $35 USD price tag for the Pi is more attractive for folks. The BB Blue I have goes for twice that amount but it does have a full compliment of Robotic interfaces on it.