Armbian
Debian/Ubuntu-based Linux distribution for 100+ ARM and RISC-V single-board computers, with optimized kernels, a powerful build framework, and pre-built images for every supported board.
Overview
Armbian is not a Linux distribution in itself — it uses Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu as a foundation and builds optimized, board-specific OS images on top of them. Each image pairs a carefully maintained custom kernel with a lean, standard userspace, giving you APT package management and full community ecosystem compatibility without the bloat of generic ARM distributions.
The project supports over 100 single-board computers across Rockchip, Amlogic, Allwinner, SpacemiT (RISC-V), and other SoC families, organized into three tiers: Platinum (constant maintenance), Standard (well supported), and Community (functional but unmonitored). Every image is PGP-signed, and releases go through automated daily stress and upgrade testing.
At its core, Armbian ships a powerful open-source build framework that lets developers compile fully customized OS images from source — patching the kernel, configuring U-Boot, applying board-specific tweaks, and producing reproducible images for any supported target. The armbian-config utility handles hardware configuration, overlays, and common system setup tasks post-install.
Armbian is the go-to OS for builders deploying SBCs as home servers, NAS boxes, IoT gateways, network appliances, media centers, and edge AI nodes — anywhere a lightweight, well-maintained Debian or Ubuntu system on ARM beats the Raspberry Pi ecosystem in performance or cost.
