Page 14 - Programming the Raspberry Pi Getting Started with Python

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Introduction

The Raspberry Pi went on general sale at the end of February 2012 and immediately crashed the
websites of the suppliers chosen to take orders for it. So what was so special about this little device
and why has it created so much interest?
What Is the Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi, shown in Figure 1-1, is a computer that runs the Linux operating system. It has USB
sockets you can plug a keyboard and mouse into and HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
video output you can connect a TV or monitor into. Many monitors only have a VGA connector, and
Raspberry Pi will not work with this. However, if your monitor has a DVI connector, cheap HDMI-to-
DVI adapters are available.

Figure 1-1 The Raspberry Pi
When Raspberry Pi boots up, you get the Linux desktop shown in Figure 1-2. This really is a proper
computer, complete with an office suite, video playback capabilities, games, and the lot. It’s not
Microsoft Windows; instead, it is Windows open source rival Linux (Debian Linux), and the
windowing environment is called LXDE.