Raspberry Pi published its own cyberdeck how-to, which means the format has crossed from Instagram side quest into first-class Pi project. Building the box is the fun part. Choosing what runs on it is where most decks stall on a fresh Raspberry Pi OS install with three terminals open and no clear next step.
We rebuilt three decks over the summer and settled on a small stack that fits a Pi 4, Pi 5, or Zero 2 W without fighting the hardware. Everything below is free, works from a microSD or NVMe hat, and boots to a useful screen in under a minute. Pick an operating system, add a tiling window manager if the screen is small, and put a serious editor on top. That is a cyberdeck.
What to look for in a cyberdeck stack
- A base OS that boots reliably on ARM, not a Debian derivative that pretends to.
- Low idle memory, because you will run this off a battery pack.
- Wayland or KMS/DRM support so screens rotate cleanly without X11 hacks.
- Tiling window manager or a terminal multiplexer, so a 7-inch display does not waste pixels on decoration.
- Package availability, especially for network utilities, radio tools, and modern editors.
- Docs that assume ARM, not desktop-x86 tutorials you have to translate.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Platforms | Size on disk | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi OS | Default choice, best driver support | Linux (ARM) | ~3 GB (Full) | Debian-based |
| DietPi | Minimal, scriptable installs | Linux (ARM) | ~400 MB | GPL/BSD mix |
| postmarketOS | Touchscreen and phone-like UIs | Linux (ARM) | ~600 MB | Alpine-based |
| Sway | Wayland tiling window manager | Linux | ~5 MB | MIT |
| Cool Retro Term | CRT terminal for the aesthetic | Linux, macOS | ~30 MB | GPLv3 |
| Neovim | Terminal editor with modern LSP | Linux, macOS, Windows | ~40 MB | Apache 2.0 |
| Kali Linux ARM | Portable pentest deck | Linux (ARM) | ~4 GB | GPL/BSD |
The apps
1. Raspberry Pi OS, best default choice
Raspberry Pi OS is the reference distribution and, for a cyberdeck you actually want to use in six months, still the correct choice. Driver support is upstream, the kernel tracks Bookworm closely, and every accessory in a maker BOM has a Pi OS install guide. The Full image includes Firefox, LibreOffice, and Chromium. Lite skips all of that and boots to a login prompt in seconds.
Where it falls short: idle memory usage on Full is higher than a minimalist deck wants; the default LXDE desktop is not touchscreen-friendly.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app.
- Paid: Not applicable.
Platforms: Linux (Raspberry Pi hardware).
Download: raspberrypi.com/software · GitHub
Bottom line: Start here. If the deck is single-purpose, move to DietPi or postmarketOS after you know what the deck is for.
2. DietPi, best for stripping the base down
DietPi takes a minimal Debian and adds a menu-driven installer that lets you cherry-pick services: SSH server, Docker, Home Assistant, Pi-hole, an ad-blocking DNS. Idle memory hovers under 100 MB on a Pi 4, and the same image runs on a dozen SBCs, so a deck built on Pi today survives a move to Radxa or Rock 5 tomorrow.
Where it falls short: no GUI installer; if you want a desktop you install one yourself. Recovery from a failed dietpi-config change means editing config files over serial.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app.
- Paid: Not applicable.
Platforms: Linux (ARM and x86 SBCs).
Download: dietpi.com · GitHub
Bottom line: The pick for decks that boot into a single service, not a desktop.
3. postmarketOS, best for touchscreens
postmarketOS is Alpine Linux tuned for phones, but the same UIs work beautifully on a 5-inch or 7-inch touch panel bolted to a Pi. Phosh (a GNOME shell for phones) and Sxmo (a suckless-style keyboard UI) both feel designed for the deck form factor in a way desktop distros never do.
Where it falls short: package selection is smaller than Debian’s; a few Pi hats have no Alpine driver yet and need a manual kernel patch.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app.
- Paid: Not applicable.
Platforms: Linux (ARM SBCs and phones).
Download: postmarketos.org · GitHub
Bottom line: If the deck has a touchscreen and no keyboard, this is the only Linux stack that respects that layout.
4. Sway, best window manager for small screens
Sway is a tiling window manager for Wayland, mostly compatible with i3 config files. On a cyberdeck’s 5 to 10 inch display, tiling is the difference between “I can see my terminal” and “I can see one column of my terminal”. Sway handles rotation, HiDPI, and multi-output cleanly, which matters when the deck’s screen is portrait.
Where it falls short: no floating window helpers out of the box; you write a config file to get anything you want. Some proprietary Nvidia setups still limp on Wayland, though this rarely matters on a Pi.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app.
- Paid: Not applicable.
Platforms: Linux (Wayland).
Download: swaywm.org · GitHub
Bottom line: If i3 was ever your daily driver, install this on day one.
5. Cool Retro Term, best for the aesthetic
Cool Retro Term wraps a modern terminal emulator in a full CRT simulation: scanlines, curvature, phosphor glow. On a small deck screen it looks like a prop from Alien, which is half the reason people build cyberdecks in the first place.
Where it falls short: the shader load is nontrivial for a Pi Zero 2 W; on that hardware, drop the effects preset. On a Pi 5 it runs comfortably.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app.
- Paid: Not applicable.
Platforms: Linux, macOS.
Download: GitHub (Swordfish90/cool-retro-term)
Bottom line: The one visual choice that reads as “cyberdeck” even in a phone photo.
6. Neovim, best editor for the deck
Neovim is a fork of Vim with a modern async architecture, first-class LSP support, and a Lua config language. On a keyboard-first deck, an editor that lives inside the terminal is the point, and Neovim’s plugin ecosystem catches up to VS Code on languages that matter, minus the browser overhead.
Where it falls short: the initial config takes an afternoon; the default install without plugins is barely more than Vim.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app.
- Paid: Not applicable.
Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows.
Bottom line: The right editor for a deck that has to work with the CPU sitting on your lap and no HDMI monitor to fall back on.
7. Kali Linux ARM, best for a portable pentest deck
Kali Linux ARM ships a curated pentest and forensics toolset for Raspberry Pi. The full image comes preloaded with Wireshark, aircrack-ng suite, hydra, and hundreds more, plus a KMS-friendly Xfce desktop that survives on a 4 GB Pi 4.
Where it falls short: the image is bulkier than the others; a full toolkit means a slower boot and larger microSD requirement.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app.
- Paid: Not applicable.
Platforms: Linux (Raspberry Pi and other SBCs).
Download: kali.org (Pi image) · GitHub
Bottom line: A deck built on Kali is a professional tool, not a novelty. Legal caveats apply; use on your own networks.
How to pick the right one
If you have never built a deck, take Raspberry Pi OS Lite, put Sway on it, and add Neovim. That is a working deck in an evening and it will survive any tutorial you follow later.
If the deck is single-purpose (adblocking DNS, mesh node, portable Wireguard box), skip the desktop entirely and use DietPi with its menu installer. It boots faster, uses less power, and does not ship apps you will not open.
If the deck has a touchscreen and no keyboard, postmarketOS is the only stack that acknowledges the form factor. Everything else pretends it is a small monitor.
If the deck is meant for network work in the field, Kali Linux ARM is the shortcut to a full toolset, and Wireshark and aircrack-ng are already there.
Cool Retro Term is the one purely aesthetic pick on this list and it belongs on any deck built for the look.
FAQ
Do I need a Pi 5, or will a Pi 4 or Zero 2 W do?
A Pi 4 with 4 GB is the sweet spot. Zero 2 W is fine for a single-purpose DietPi deck; Pi 5 helps only if you plan to run local LLMs or heavy Docker workloads on the deck itself.
Can a cyberdeck actually replace a laptop?
For a shell-first workflow, yes. For anything that assumes a browser and multiple monitors, no.
What about Ubuntu on the Pi?
Ubuntu Server on ARM is a fine alternative to Raspberry Pi OS Lite. The desktop image is heavier than a small deck usually wants.
Do these OS images support the official Pi touchscreen?
Raspberry Pi OS supports it natively. postmarketOS supports it with a small config file. DietPi and Kali need a manual X11 config for rotation.
Can I install multiple OS images on one SD card?
PINN and BerryBoot handle that. It is a fine way to test images before you commit; not recommended for daily use.
