Raspbian is pretty much the standard for the RPi. It's Debian-based and is very good, especially for running light-weight PyWacket/Python servers and applications. The combination of RaspberryPi#RPi3 RaspberryPi 3]] running Raspbian may be something like an assumption ( or 'reference implementation' ) for the entire project.

http://raspbian.org/

Raspbian is a free operating system based on Debian optimized for the Raspberry Pi hardware ...

Raspbian provides more than a pure OS: it comes with over 35,000 packages, pre-compiled software bundled in a nice format for easy installation on your Raspberry Pi.

There's a bunch of USB OTG stuff emerging that would allow an RPi to directly connect to a Windows machine via USB and share capabilities such as display and networking via the USB port, either as host or client. Intriguing.

Pidora

http://pidora.ca/

Pidora is a Fedora Remix optimized for the Raspberry Pi computer.

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_ARM_Installer

http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Pidora_Installation

Chat - http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=pidora

Arch Linux ARM

Base install ( no GUI ), then a grueling regimen of configuration ... you get MongoDB

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Raspberry_Pi

The Raspberry Pi 2, released in 2015, is shipped with a BCM2836 SoC (quad-core ARM Cortex A7 architecture).

http://archlinuxarm.org/

Arch Linux ARM is a distribution of Linux for ARM computers. We provide targeted kernel and software support for soft-float ARMv5te, and hard-float ARMv6 and ARMv7 instruction sets on a variety of consumer devices and development platforms. Our collaboration with Arch Linux brings users the best platform, newest packages, and installation support.

http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv7/broadcom/raspberry-pi-2

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/FAQ

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_guide

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/General_recommendations

http://archpi.dabase.com/

https://github.com/phortx/Raspberry-Pi-Setup-Guide

A really opionionated guide how to setup a RPi with Arch Linux including WiringPi?, ntp, wi-fi, ssh, ruby, zsh etc.

The Scratch OS ?

Can boot directly into scratch ?

http://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/getting-started-with-scratch/

http://scratch.mit.edu/

http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Scratch_Wiki_Home

http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Squeak_Smalltalk

Flash ... Adobe Flash is a programming suite by Adobe, which was used to create Scratch 2.0.

Flash programming is done in ActionScript, a language based on ECMAScript.

Bummer.

Puppy Linux

When subject of Linux comes up, the name 'Puppy' doesn't often get into the discussion. It should because it's just seems to me to be the simplest and safest way to install a small Linux desktop. In fact, it's probably the easiest way to create a small desktop with any operating system.

http://puppylinux.com/

I have Puppy TahrPup64 booting from a 32GB USB flash drive and running on an old 2GB, 64-bit laptop, often in 'save on request' mode with with no state preserved across bootings. It's a champion of its breed. Runs Twisted Python, Java Openfire and sundry servers like they weren't there. If a particular server is supported on Puppy ( and not all are ), it's very painless and easy way to go, no messes to clean up.

http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm#quirky

TahrPup64 also has the distinction of being just about the easiest way to create a Servers#SambaServer.

However, Puppy's usability is limited and not very secure, good enough for a private or semi-private network but definitely not to be exposed on a public or even semi-public IP address under any circumstances.

There's even a new release that run on the RaspberryPi - haven't seen it yet but will get to it eventually. Would there be any real advantage over #Raspbian, especially given skimpy 1GB of RAM on the RPi ?

Many moons ago, I used to run Puppy off a bootable CD-RW with the XAMPP LAMP-style server installed from a tar.gz file. I booted either using a savefile to retain state across boots or using no savefile for stateless boots. It ran fairly quickly given the limitations of CD drives and fairly securely given the the security limitations of Puppy. I haven't actual tried it yet but booting a Puppy/XAMPP server application off of a USB flash drive instead of a CD had got to be better.

See BootableUSB

Micro Python

Under active development ...

See Devices#PyBoard. As far as I can tell, MicroPython only runs on the pyboard.

http://micropython.org/

Micro Python is a lean and fast implementation of the Python 3 programming language that is optimised to run on a microcontroller. The Micro Python board is a small electronic circuit board that runs Micro Python on the bare metal, and gives you a low-level Python operating system that can be used to control all kinds of electronic projects.

http://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/

https://github.com/micropython/micropython

Micro Python implements the entire Python 3.4 syntax (including exceptions, "with", "yield from", etc.) ...

The "unix" port requires a standard Unix environment with gcc and GNU make. x86 and x64 architectures are supported (i.e. x86 32- and 64-bit), as well as ARM and MIPS.

https://github.com/micropython/pyboard

The Micro Python board (pyboard) is a small microcontroller board that runs Micro Python (Micro Python is a lean and fast implementation of the Python 3 programming language that is optimised to run on a microcontroller). It is based on the STM32F405RGT6 MCU and includes USB, a micro SD card slot and an accelerometer.

Makes the RP look like bloatware -> 168 MHz Cortex M4 CPU with 1024KB flash ROM and 192KB RAM ( approx. Pentium 2 ? )

Mint Linux

https://linuxmint.com/

Recently switched to Mint Linux. ~~Wondering if I did the right thing~~~. One year later - haven't looked back.

~~1. No Google Chrome browser in repository.~~

~~2. No Seamonkey in repository.~~

~~3. No XULrunner in repository, god alone knows why. ( Firefox is in repository. )~~

All of above fixed or fixable, Mint seems to be ultimate in stability. What more could anyone want in a full-featured desktop ?

Ubuntu Quirks

The old standard, maybe old and quirky sometimes ?

Apache

It's getting weirder, may not Ubuntu but Apache. In any case, the old httpd.conf file has been 'improved' ( according to the technical sparks ) by eliminating most comments in the apache2.conf file.

Still investigating.

See httpd.conf

See ServersApache#ScalpedByApache

C Language

Dabbling, maybe some binaries are OK if the pay-off is large enough [ big bang, small buck ] ... GNU C/C++ must regard as a Linux-only solution, in fact as a RaspberryPi-only solution at this point ... yet more asymmetry.

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/cprogramming/

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/c_standard_library/index.htm

http://www.cplusplus.com/

http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/

http://crasseux.com/books/ctutorial/

http://www.cprogramming.com/advtutorial.html

http://c.learncodethehardway.org/book/

http://www.cquestions.com/2011/07/advanced-c-tutorial.html

https://developers.google.com/edu/c++/

http://baptiste-wicht.com/categories/c.html