Driver support, vendor support, and stability
As we go through all the hardware platforms that are available in the Linux ecosystem, I find it crucial to remind you and your team to ensure that whichever Linux distribution you consider also meets your products’ needs (and your customers’ expectations).
What do I mean by that? Basically, I am recommending that you and your team evaluate more than one operating system before settling on a winner. Ensure that your hardware performs at the expected rate with the candidate operating system. Record metrics. Record package versions. Stress-test your prototypes. This process guarantees that when you compare and contrast the candidates, your team can best decide on what truly should be the best selection.
Not all distributions are based on the same kernel versions, which directly impacts which drivers may be included (or, in some cases, deprecated from the distribution). Additionally, depending on your planned hardware,...