I think the main issue is that RPiOS is mainly focused on digital signage, so showing something on a screen and also of course camera as getting some data into the computer (that can not be downloaded from internet) and the GPIO (with all the HATs as well). I find it mostly astonishing that people want to upgrade and then have some files back-upped somewhere, but still overwrite the whole SD-card with a new image, new OS version. All setting gone. But remember, how many times have RPL people stated they don't support in-place upgrades.
A FritzBox router, my Mikrotik WiFi AP, my Ubiquity 2.4G link stuff, all can upgrade the OS in-place, all settings kept. Also HAOS (runs on a Pi), very different partitions scheme (8), has all methods build-in to upgrade in-place (so keep it running, just a reboot needed) and also own backup tools build-in. So RPL/RPiOS cannot be considered a serious OS for more critical things. You need own tweaks etc to make it like that. Example is Btrfs as filesystem so you can rollback quickly, check for corruption etc. Other method is buildroot based with A/B scheme (=HAOS). Other people don't even think about SD-card (that is still the base of RPi's) and use a CM with proper I/O. Or buy more integrated ARM SBC, like those from hardkernel/odroid for example. But costs more...
So it is peoples own responsibility to make their DIY system survive failure. There is no law that someone will come and check at your home to see if backups are OK. The only problem is when there would be too many reports of failure and conclusion that the Pi is just a cheap toy. I have seen several people developed that (strong) opinion already in the past because their Pi (SD-card) got corrupted when running Pi-Hole. Or their PSU ('charger') did nasty things.
Also a 'reminder to backup' message too prominently displayed might get people to think that the RPi is unreliable or so. Just wrote an SD-card and then already worry about things going wrong. People with enough background in embedded or Linux etc know their way. There is for example btrbk tool standard in Debian, but I guess already too complicated for many who only know Windows/Mac and get their 1st Pi for PiHole etc (and you need another Linux box already actually). Other ARMs (Android smartphones) pump the settings into the cloud, so maybe many do not realize enough that a 35 dollar computer is their own responsibility (they can't pay with their privacy for having cloud backups).
A FritzBox router, my Mikrotik WiFi AP, my Ubiquity 2.4G link stuff, all can upgrade the OS in-place, all settings kept. Also HAOS (runs on a Pi), very different partitions scheme (8), has all methods build-in to upgrade in-place (so keep it running, just a reboot needed) and also own backup tools build-in. So RPL/RPiOS cannot be considered a serious OS for more critical things. You need own tweaks etc to make it like that. Example is Btrfs as filesystem so you can rollback quickly, check for corruption etc. Other method is buildroot based with A/B scheme (=HAOS). Other people don't even think about SD-card (that is still the base of RPi's) and use a CM with proper I/O. Or buy more integrated ARM SBC, like those from hardkernel/odroid for example. But costs more...
So it is peoples own responsibility to make their DIY system survive failure. There is no law that someone will come and check at your home to see if backups are OK. The only problem is when there would be too many reports of failure and conclusion that the Pi is just a cheap toy. I have seen several people developed that (strong) opinion already in the past because their Pi (SD-card) got corrupted when running Pi-Hole. Or their PSU ('charger') did nasty things.
Also a 'reminder to backup' message too prominently displayed might get people to think that the RPi is unreliable or so. Just wrote an SD-card and then already worry about things going wrong. People with enough background in embedded or Linux etc know their way. There is for example btrbk tool standard in Debian, but I guess already too complicated for many who only know Windows/Mac and get their 1st Pi for PiHole etc (and you need another Linux box already actually). Other ARMs (Android smartphones) pump the settings into the cloud, so maybe many do not realize enough that a 35 dollar computer is their own responsibility (they can't pay with their privacy for having cloud backups).
Statistics: Posted by redvli — Tue Jan 13, 2026 6:09 pm