Chapter 2
Downloading the Operating System
IN THIS CHAPTER
Introducing Linux
Using Raspberry Pi Imager to set up your microSD card
Choosing an operating system for your Raspberry Pi
Before you can do anything with your Raspberry Pi, you need to provide it with an operating system (OS). The operating system software enables you to use the computer’s basic functions and looks after activities such as managing files and running applications, like word processors or web browsers. Those applications use the operating system as an intermediary to talk to the hardware, and they won’t work without it. This concept isn’t unique to the Raspberry Pi. On your laptop, the operating system might be Microsoft Windows or macOS. On iPads it’s iPadOS, on iPhones it’s iOS, and on other devices it might be Android.
In this chapter, we introduce you to Linux, the operating system most frequently used on the Raspberry Pi, and we show you how to create a microSD card with an operating system on it. You’ll need to use another computer to set up the microSD card. It doesn’t matter whether you use a Windows, macOS, or Linux machine, but the computer needs to be able to write to microSD cards, and must have ...
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