HOW TO Set Up a Raspberry Pi as a daily driver
01 CHOOSE YOUR OS
Raspberry Pi OS with the full set of pre-installed software is the best option for a daily driver. It will save time later with all the productivity tools you’ll need. While lightweight alternatives are available, the Raspberry Pi OS also features a well-supported version of Chromium, which you’ll need for collaboration tools that are otherwise unavailable for the Raspberry Pi.
02 CONSIDER YOUR PERIPHERALS
Unless you’re using the Pi 400, you’ll need a reliable, comfortable keyboard and mouse for your new PC. Without stating the obvious, a display is also vital – there’s no SSH-ing into your Raspberry Pi desktop replacement. For storage, consider an external hard disk drive for speed and convenience. Cloud storage is an option, although reliable sync tools for popular services are scarce.
03 INSTALL ANY ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE
In most cases you’ll have all the software you need preinstalled in Raspberry Pi OS. While web tools can be handled with Chromium, some applications will need to be sought out and installed manually. This might be something like a new terminal emulator or an image-editing tool. GIMP is preinstalled with the “full” version of Raspberry Pi OS, but Mirage is a simpler alternative that’s still pretty capable.
04 INSTALL YOUR PRINTER
It’s extremely likely that you’ll need to print if you’re using your Raspberry Pi as a desktop replacement. Start by switching on your network printer or plugging a USB printer into your Raspberry Pi and powering it on. Next, open a terminal and enter the following line of code: sudo apt install cups
05 CONFIGURE CUPS
With CUPS installed, add the pi user to lpadmin with sudo usermod -a -G lpadmin pi . Next, open CUPS in your browser with https://localhost:631 and click Administration. Select Add Printer, authenticate the pi account and then browse the list of drivers. Select the appropriate driver and initiate a test print to confirm.
06 TRIAL, ERROR, SUCCESS
Getting the setup of any PC right first time is unusual. But in the past the Raspberry Pi had a specific shortcoming: it just wasn’t fast enough. This limitation doesn’t exist with the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB model. If you have access to the correct programs, collaboration tools and data, the Pi 4 can replace your work PC, for a fraction of the price.