alt Hacker News> Your comment is why these people are often wrong.
Interestingly, it’s the opposite for me, and I almost exclusively see comments about software support & linux mainlaine.
That said, I think 90% of the time it’s better to buy small x86 machine than a PI. Those have great software support, are more powerful, and can be cheaper (slightly larger & no GPIO, those two are the main reasons to go SBC)
The difference is between x64 machines and ARM machines. The no-name x64 machines have excellent software support because they all run EFI and have fairly ordinary hardware. The no-name ARM boards have cobbled together bootloaders and require specific U-Boot magic most of the time to even get them online.