Sorry if this is a stupid question, but when putting Home Assistant on a pi - am I right in understanding that the whole pi needs a dedicated Home Assistant OS and that it will be exclusively operate as a Home Assistant?
You don't have to, but it's much much easier to do so. Then it basically manages the entire operating system too (ensures all dependencies are present but that it is as stripped down as possible).
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but when putting Home Assistant on a pi - am I right in understanding that the whole pi needs a dedicated Home Assistant OS and that it will be exclusively operate as a Home Assistant?