Armbian 23.05: optimized for single-board computers
Running a Linux distribution on Arm-based single-board computers (SBCs) is still not as easy as on x86 systems because many Arm devices require a vendor-supplied kernel, a patched bootloader, and other device-specific components. One distribution that addresses this problem is Armbian, which offers Debian- and Ubuntu-based distributions for many devices. The headline feature in the recent release, Armbian 23.05, which came at the end of May, is a major rework of the build framework that has been made faster and more reliable after three years of development.
Many Arm-based SBCs and development boards support Linux, but often the board manufacturer provides a heavily patched Linux kernel upon release and doesn't maintain it for long. Not all manufacturers are like the creator of the Raspberry Pi that still supports the 11-year-old first model in the latest Raspberry Pi OS. Consequently, many users of other Arm SBCs end up with an outdated, unsupported kernel or a Linux distribution based on an end-of-life Debian version. The Armbian developers attempt to salvage these devices by porting the vendor's patches to newer Linux kernels and supporting the devices in their Linux distribution as long as it's viable.
The Armbian project began in 2013 as a hobby project by Igor Pečovnik, when he created a script to build a Debian image for the Cubieboard SBC. While he was fixing problems and learning how to improve software support for the board, others joined him on the Cubieboard forums. By 2014, the project got its own web site and the name Armbian; the project's goal has evolved to provide a Debian image for various Arm SBCs.