| Feature | BBN | OpenPlotter |
|---|---|---|
Open Source |
yes |
yes |
Free |
yes |
yes |
Touchscreen Support |
advanced (OpenCPN, two finger zoom, long touch right click, three finger scroll) |
basic |
On-screen keyboard |
advanced |
basic |
On-screen App Launcher |
yes |
- |
Touchscreen usability |
higher |
lower |
Headless mode |
available with the same OS image with simple config changes |
available by downloading separate image |
Touchscreen UI |
requires keyboard and mouse during set up |
requires keyboard and mouse during regular operation |
SignalK |
yes |
yes (plugins are not pre-installed) |
PyPilot |
yes |
yes (not pre-configured) |
AvNav |
yes |
adhoc install |
QtVlm |
adhoc install |
- |
Chart Formats |
All available opensource plugins pre-installed |
adhoc install |
GPSd |
yes, pre-configured |
- |
KPlex |
yes, bundled, disabled on start |
adhoc install |
OpenCPN |
yes |
yes (plugins are not pre-installed) |
O-Charts Plugins |
yes, bundled |
adhoc install |
OpenCPN Weather Routing Plugin |
yes, bundled |
adhoc install |
OpenCPN Polar Plugin |
yes, bundled |
adhoc install |
OpenCPN Tides/Currents |
yes |
yes |
Weather GRIB |
yes |
yes |
Radar Support |
yes, pre-installed OpenCPN plugin |
adhoc |
WiFi hotspot |
yes, pre-configured |
needs setup |
Firewall |
yes |
- |
NMEA 0183 |
yes, mostly preconfigured |
yes, requires configuration |
NMEA 2000, Can |
bundled, requires configuration |
adhoc install, requires configuration |
SeaTalk1 |
bundled, requires configuration |
adhoc install, requires configuration |
NavTex |
yes |
- |
Radio Decoders |
Inmarsat STD-C, NavTex, WeatherFax, WinLink, NOAA Satellite Weather, AIS - bundled |
WeatherFax, NOAA Satellite Weather, AIS via adhoc install |
SDR/Ham support |
extensive |
basic |
AirMail |
via wine |
- |
GIS |
SAS.Planet via wine, imgkap |
- |
Autopilots Control |
AutoHelm(?), pyPilot, NMEA 2000 |
NMEA 2000 (adhoc), pyPilot |
i2c |
on by default, IMUs are auto-detected |
needs configuration |
Serial Ports |
mostly autoconfigured via udev rules |
manual config via utility |
Hardware OpenGL acceleration |
on by default |
needs setup |
Support of opensource hardware |
MCS marine server, SailorHat, Maiana AIS (most pre-installed and some adhoc) |
require adhoc install |
Kernel |
64-bit by default |
32 or 64-bit |
Hardware |
Raspberry Pi4, Pi400, and CM4 and Pi3B+ (last two require /boot/config.txt changes before first boot) |
More wide hardware support with additional DIY config changes |
Backup Tools |
plenty (timeshift, restic, rsync, rclone, rpi-clone, etc) |
some |
SSD Imaging |
yes, rpi-clone |
DIY |
Android Mirroring |
yes, scrcpy |
- |
Remote Desktop |
yes, VNC client and server |
VNC adhoc install |
Web Browser |
yes |
yes |
FB, FB Messenger |
yes |
- |
yes |
- |
|
Text-to-speech |
adhoc |
- |
Offline Wikipedia |
kiwix |
- |
YouTube |
yes |
via browser |
Cameras |
yes, MotionEye, Cam |
- |
Augmented Reality |
Stellarium |
- |
Drones support |
yes, APM Planner 2 |
- |
Media Library |
Jellyfin (adhoc), SAMBA share, Mopidy |
- |
Playing Music |
yes, Mopidy, AirPlay (Shairplay), Spotify (raspotify), Bluetooth |
Bluetooth? |
Windy, Lightning Map, Dock Finder, BoatSetter, CrewFinder, Sailing Education, Marine Traffic, Marine Life Identification |
on-line |
DIY |
Power Monitoring |
yes (SolarThing, HomeAssistant, etc) |
DIY |
Victron support |
yes (via SignalK, HomeAssistant, NodeRed, Venus Web UI) |
DIY |
Marine Publications |
ColReg, Check lists, Knots, Sailing Directions Enroute (adhoc) |
- |
Automation |
NodeRed built-in, Mosquitto MQTT built-in, HomeAssistant/EspHome (adhoc) |
Mosquitto MQTT, NodeRed adhoc |
Data Analytics |
Grafana, Kapacitor, InfluxDB (built-in, disabled on start) |
Grafana, InfluxDB adhoc |
Release Frequency |
about monthly |
1-2 yearly |
GitHub feedback: (stars, watchers, forks) |
more |
less |
Distro Image Size |
2.8 Gb |
1.4 Gb |
Download locations |
2 Cloudsmith and GitHub |
1 Private Cloud |
Documentation |
fewer pictures, more complete, more complete supported hardware list |
more pictures, more gaps |