AlmaLinux has officially announced support for Raspberry Pi 5 for enthusiasts and professionals who rely on the robust AlmaLinux OS alongside the versatility of Raspberry Pi devices.
“Raspberry Pi 5 support has been much anticipated in the AlmaLinux community, and today we are very excited to share great news. AlmaLinux now has support for Raspberry Pi 5!”
The integration began when Koichiro Iwao, an engineer at Cybertrust Japan with a passion for Raspberry Pi, joined the AlmaLinux community. With a background deeply rooted in Japan’s vibrant Raspberry Pi scene, he was inspired to enhance AlmaLinux’s utility for these popular microcomputers.
AlmaLinux already offered Raspberry Pi images, but the launch of Raspberry Pi 5 in October 2023, noted for its substantial hardware upgrades, sparked increased demand for compatible AlmaLinux versions.
Adapting AlmaLinux for Raspberry Pi 5 was no small feat. Initially, the project involved understanding the distinct boot process of Raspberry Pi, which is based on a specialized fork of the Linux kernel.
“I delved into the Raspberry Pi boot process to develop a kernel package specifically for AlmaLinux. It was a challenging but enlightening experience that involved adapting our kernel to align with the Raspberry Pi OS sources.”
Koichiro Iwao
The breakthrough came when the team managed to rebase the AlmaLinux kernel to the updated Raspberry Pi OS sources, achieving a functional and stable kernel for Pi 5.
AlmaLinux is now available for Raspberry Pi 5, with options for both the standard and GNOME desktop environment images. Interested users can download these directly from the AlmaLinux website, which provides a comprehensive installation guide.
For more information, refer to the announcement.
