Nezha : RISC-V Linux SBC

The title of this post contains ample details to excite (me).  The "open source" architecture RISC-V is well on its way into the mainstream.  To be of general interest it needs to run Linux and a price point of $99 is well below previous development boards.

I ordered one as soon as I saw the indiegogo crowd funding page on 21st May.  Crowd funding was complete by 26th May, boards were shipped about 8th June and mine arrived yesterday.

Nehza has a similar form factor to a Raspberry PI and similar connectivity for HDMI, power, Ethernet, Wifi, Bluetooth, USB and Audio.  In a direct comparison RPI4 is faster, with more capabilities but that isn't the point.  Here we are running RISC-V not ARM.  Personally I feel this is an important moment in the evolution of systems.

I connected up the board, inserted the SD card provided and booted it up.  It started a Debian desktop and allowed me to signon.  Once ethernet was connected, I could happily SSH into the system.  This is perfectly what I hoped for.  I have a new (but familiar) world to explore.