I currently have a Pi3 running Raspbian mainly for Pi-hole.
I’m ordering a Pi5 w/ 16GB and an NVME SSD (Argon ONE V3 M.2 NVME case). I’m going to move my PiHole over (or start over clean) and I want to start experimenting with Docker which is why I want 16GM RAM.
I’ve always read DietPi was a great OS … lightweight and optimized so it uses less resources. I’m just curious on a Pi5 w/ 16GB RAM and an NVME SSD where I don’t necessary need my OS to run lightweight, is DietPi still the best choice, or should I be running Raspberry Pi OS?
Thanks.
Dietpi and Raspberry Pi OS are both based upon debian…just different scripting
I recommend a webgui for docker called portainer , or a docker webgui manager of your choosing
Heck there are even specific OS’s catered to and built specifically for lightweight personal cloud/storage servers like CasaOS these are all purpose built distro’s and webgui overlays by a community…DietPi is the BASE OS specifically designed to work out of the box…then you manually go in and tweak/build it to your liking…there is a learning curve..but DietPi is the lightest and the most efficient.
It’s not about resource consumption only. DietPi offers a lot of software titles which can be easily installed and will be working ootb without the need for users to do a configuration. For complex apps like Nextcloud quite a help. The benefit of DietPi is the end to end automation.
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Some months ago I did a basic install test of one or two of the “fancy” personal servers vs dietpi and similar. I did the test using an older SBC to have a better feeling of the base OS’s impact on resources and the fancy ones not only used 2 or 3 times DietPi’s memory, but they also loaded the CPU considerably more (by comparison), when DietPi kept mostly idle.
Granted, having more resources in a Pi 5 means this will be less relevant, but personally I like to keep the system as light as possible.
So I went with DietPi + DietPi native apps + Portainer.
Can´t comment on Raspberry Pi OS as I haven’t actually used for more than one or two quick glances at it as it stikes me as a “desktop replacement” which is not what I look for in a SBC OS…
There are few OS’s out there as streamlined or efficient as DietPi…and with a little legwork and knowhow (less with the very ingenious scripting) it can become a VERY powerful little home server…the devs do ALOT of work and deserve kudo’s for days!
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It really depends on how you view things, OP; running a straight Linux is usually a bit more work, even with Docker, and it will usually come with a ton of stuff pre-installed that you might not need.
Removing such clutter takes up time and effort best spent making sure everything works as intended, IMHO.
Beyond that, depending on your needs, application/usecase wise, Dietpi might remain the best choice, if simply because of it’s ease of install AND use.
Also, and this is me speaking more from remembering the Raspberry Pi 1 (and the Intel 8080) than anything else; why not run the OS as lightweight as possible?
If it boils down to more processing power being available for your apps, I’d see that as a win.
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Jep, “best” cannot be answered objectively. If you do like to setup everything yourself, have your own scripts, or just so you every bit of it, the scripted offers and automation of DietPi might be annoying. Same if you expect certain features to be present OOTB, which are disabled on DietPi by default and/or might need additional packages to be installed.
It remains true that DietPi consumes less disk space, less memory, has less background processes running OOTB, minimises disk I/O compared to most other distros by default (at the cost of e.g. slower apt calls). If you do not miss something particular shipped with RPi OS, and are used to and comfortable with what dietpi-* scripts offer, it is still a good choice (what shall I day differently 
).
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