I've worked with many boards from many vendors for many years now...
If you need software to be available in 2, 3, 5 years, get a raspberry pi.
Some might have some software available, some might have patches, some may need manual compiling, some only support debian with 2.4 kernel, some have binary blobs that only work on that 2.4 kernel, some have working usb ports on 2.4 and no gpio, but working gpio with 2.6 kernel but no usb ports, etc.
Just get a raspberry pi.
raspberry pi have some of the worst power management and usage of any SBCs. theyre a non starter for an entire class of projects (battery powered). so no. dont just get a pi. do 5 minutes of research.
btw, i have inherited projects that used raspberry pis for the computing. every single one had to be reworked replacing the pi.
additionally, if the pi doesnt fit your RF footprint needs in an enclosure, it is not possible to get the chips standalone. plus the schematic is not open source. fuck broadcom and fuck raspberry pi foundation. acceptable for light hobby use only
So what other board can I buy today, put in a drawer for 5 years, maybe 10, take it out then and still find a modern linux distro with a modern kernel for it? RPi 1 still has debian stable support.
I’d go a step further and say get a mini pc unless you need gpio
With a miniPC you can always use a Raspberry Pico (or Arduino that supports Device Mode) for your GPIOs.
Same here. I really wanted Orange Pi to work, tried, but after getting my raspberry pi 4 it's night and day.