6 ms·

The switch to Linux and the beginning of my self-hosting journey

kgwxd 8mo ago
Any would-be switchers, note these are 2 very different things. Self-Hosting sucks, period. For a million reasons that have nothing to do with the OS :) Trying both at once is going to be exponentially more painful than doing either alone.
- GlitchRider47 8mo ago
  Self-hosting sucks, yes. But I'll be damned if it isn't fun. It's definitely not for everyone. Not only is it not for everyone, but it is not for everyone's families. I'm so grateful that my wife is willing to put up with me experimenting on our home network, trying out different apps, waiting for me to resolve a DNS issue because I forgot to assign a static IP to my pihole.
  - SchemaLoad 8mo ago
    I feel like it sucks a lot less than it used to. New apps like Immich work incredibly well, new tools like Tailscale make security and access to the home network easy, and LLMs make solving problems and getting ideas a lot easier.
- kingcrimson1000 8mo ago
  It is painful but I would say it is also rewarding as I learned a lot doing it!
  - kgwxd 8mo ago
    I love learning that stuff too, until I learn what it takes to maintain it. At least internet facing stuff. I fully gave up on email a decade ago. That alone crushed all my excitement for the general idea. I have a local media server, but it's also just my main desktop.
- boricj 8mo ago
  Half-assing self-hosting sucks, regardless of the underlying platform. You tie things together with shoestrings and gum, leaving ticking timebombs and riddles to your future self. This is the point where I'm supposed to describe my self-hosting solution on my so-called homelab, where my blog lives. I won't, because it's both stupid in smart ways and smart in stupid ways, therefore it sucks all the way. Self-hosting is like any hobby. Half-ass it and you'll half-like it.
- newsoftheday 8mo ago
  > Self-Hosting sucks, period. I've been doing it for several decades now, it doesn't suck at all for me.
- tamimio 8mo ago
  It depends, do you have the time to maintain few things, or sometimes more than “few things”? Do you have the skills or at least willing to learn? Are you willing to deal with some basic contingency planning in case some stuff goes wrong? What kind of services are you replacing, if emails, probably not worth it, storage? Definitely. Do you have a reliable internet/power combo to rely on accessing your lab remotely? Say you are traveling and want to access your NAS to get a copy of XYZ document, last thing you want is that you are unable to do so because your power is down. So it really depends on the use case and many factors, if it works for you, great, otherwise and you are willing to pay some subscriptions, then be it.
- gehsty 8mo ago
  I think it’s fair to say it depends on what you are hosting and why - personal projects and curiosities, fun! Self hosting business critical data and customer data, minefield! Currently self hosting some little projects, using cloudflare tunnels to serve to the web, and it is surprisingly fun and efficient!
- Dedime 8mo ago
  Hot take alert! As an avid self-hoster, I'd like to hear why. Personally, I self host because the benefits I receive simply aren't available anywhere else at the level of quality I've come to expect - Jellyfin is a great media player, it's free, and I don't want to switch. Pihole provides ad protection and privacy for my whole home network. It's also free. Homeassistant is amazing, and free. Etc etc.
  - Telaneo 8mo ago
    > It's also free. Only if you don't care about your time or if your media collection is tiny. Don't get me wrong, I love my 20 TB hard drives full of Linux ISOs, but it's a hard sell on anyone who doesn't have 'dicking about with computers' as their hobby. Regular old piracy using torrents has been a easier sell in my experience, once you can get over the hurdle of getting someone familiar with using a torrent client and the relevant search bar. Popcorn Time back in the day made that hurdle trivial. Getting people to use Jellyfin isn't hard. Getting someone to be the family/friend group Jellyfin sysadmin is a significantly tougher sell. Pihole and the like is an easier sell, since it can be mostly set and forget, but it's not free unless you already have a computer which isn't doing anything, and even if you do, that computer isn't guaranteed to be one which has near-zero running costs when you factor in electricity. The same sorts of problems apply to most things you can self-host.
    - bigstrat2003 8mo ago
      I can't speak for Jellyfin, as I currently use Plex. But it truly has been "set it and forget it" for me. I've never had an update break things, it just does its job and does it well.
    - SchemaLoad 8mo ago
      I don't think many advice non tech people to get in to self hosting, but there are a lot of people who do enjoy messing with computers who these articles are marketing to. The average user will only self host when it's a managed box they plug in and it just works. Like how Apple/Google home automation works. Maybe we will see managed products for photo / file syncing pop up.
- beart 8mo ago
  In my experience, containerization has made self-hosting most software a breeze. The biggest pain points I've come across are related to network architecture and security. I've frequently run into issues with certificates, proxy setups, DNS, etc. It seems like much of that stems around how many modern web concepts were not designed to easily support offline-first environments. Then again, that stuff has never been my area of expertise.
  - SchemaLoad 8mo ago
    For me I've decided to just have everything behind a VPN. Tailscale and Cloudflare tunnels make this quite easy to set up, dealing with ddns and CGNAT for you. The upside is the security risk is massively reduced, an attacker would have to exploit both the VPN and the service behind it, both of these in theory being secure anyway. The downside is obviously that you require installing a VPN client to access services, but if it's only you using the server this isn't a huge deal.
SunshineTheCat 8mo ago
No comment on the hosting end of things, however, I switched to Ubuntu on my PC a couple of weekends ago and I still have not adjusted to the peace and quiet of not getting 87 meaningless windows notifications every time I boot up.
- robby_w_g 8mo ago
  No more updates in the middle of a multi-player game with friends. How will I ever live without Windows?
- PlatoIsADisease 8mo ago
  After you get frustreted having to use the terminal to make Ubuntu work, try Fedora. Ubuntu is outdated linux, it part of Debian-family, which goes by the misleading name 'stable'. Its not stable like a table. Its stable like software versions are frozen, despite bugs being fixed. Fedora isnt Arch, I think most Debian-family users don't realize they are unrelated. Fedora is just well maintained and generally up to date.
  - scrollop 8mo ago
    I tried using Linux 5 years ago - too difficult to learn terminal commands to configfure everythiong. Tried again a few months ago and it's a breeze with an llm creating all the commands and code and troubleshooting. eg vibe coded a text transcriber similar to windows Voice Typing.
  - simion314 8mo ago
    Right, cause latest packages bring only latest features and bug fixes and never bring new bugs, do you ever wonder how those bugs that the latest packages fix get in ? I recommend for people that want things to not change and not get new bugs every update to use an LTS distro like Kubuntu and only get latest kernels or drivers from a PPA or upstream if you really have to. I am not running the latest KDE stuff and I feel fine, I am not suffering in pain for some cool new feature in Plasma and some new bug, I am comfortable with the existing features and existing bugs.
gethly 8mo ago
As I had zero plans on moving to Windows 11, I was looking into which distros are popular nowadays over the past few weeks. Today, I tried Cachy OS and Aurora(non-gaming version of Bazzite) in VirtualBox and after 5 minutes I knew that after 30 years of using a computer with windows(dos, then w95 and onward) Linux is still not there yet on the desktop. I just can't believe how they still can't get the utmost basic things right. Yet here we are. And yes, you can game on linux nowadays, finally! Even get better performance due to Windows bloat. Office, OBS, internet, video...everything is working...yet it still is not there in usability. To be specific what irked me today when I tested them was installing new programs. On Cachy, I wanted to test jetbrains IDE. Last time i tested it was on suse and fedora in virtualbox last year and it worked but neither distribution was there just yet in UX. This time, I downloaded the tar version from jetbrains website. I could not open it(maybe due to it being run in live cd mode in virtualbox) or extract(no option in dir manager or decompression program) the content in Cachy. So I wanted to get 7zip but there was no linux version. Cachy has its own packages that can be opened(website) via its welcome screen(otherwise there is no program manager - no snaps, flatpacks...) and after downloading it with some arch file extension i could not install it. I could open it and see usr and bin directories but that helped me fuckall and i was not willing to tinker with this bs in 2026. Then in Aurora, it has bazaar for flatpacks, before i wasted bandwidth to download the IDE in vain again i preemptively wanted zip manager, there was pea..something. So i clicked install, it did and .. nothing. Nowhere to be found. Tried multiple times and no result. Could not find it anywhere. So I said F that and am sticking with the indian windows spyware. The devil you know and whatnot.
- newsoftheday 8mo ago
  Use a standard Linux distro like Kubuntu if you like KDE (Windows like) or Ubuntu if you like Gnome like and stay away from those ultra customized, time bomb distros and you will be fine. That's assuming your desired is sincere.
- vel0city 8mo ago
  > So I wanted to get 7zip but there was no linux version You didn't need 7zip, you can extract compressed tars natively. In fact, IntelliJ's docs tell you exactly what command to run. https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/installation-guide.html#standalone_linux https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/installation-guide.html#... sudo tar -xzf idea-*.tar.gz -C /opt
digiown 8mo ago
Proxmox is probably overkill for beginners. You'll know it when you want it. I recommend docker-compose based tools, especially dockge [1]. It drastically cuts down on the surface of weird things you have to deal with. Just put up a reasonable distro (I recommend Debian here, since Fedora tends to get some SELinux issues which would confuse beginners), install docker, and run it. You don't have to touch anything else system-wise (maybe except setting up encryption when installing) Most self-hostable services provide docke-compose files, which you can just paste in with some customizations, and run it from there. Tailscale for external access is probably the easiest solution. 1. https://dockge.kuma.pet/ https://dockge.kuma.pet/
- newsoftheday 8mo ago
  I use KVM, never tried proxmox, don't need it, don't want it.
- Cyph0n 8mo ago
  +1, only reach for Proxmox first if you’re really interested in learning it.
- Joel_Mckay 8mo ago
  And unstable for novices that have no clue what they are working with OS wise. The virt-manager is easy for most Desktop folks looking to drop Win11 in a frozen backing-image sandbox with a local samba folder loop-back mount (allows fake network share in Win11 or MacOS guest OS.) =3
  - digiown 8mo ago
    Virt manager is the least intuitive (discounting actively antiuser crap) program I've ever dealt with. I still don't quite get it and I've used Linux exclusively for more than 5 years.
    - Joel_Mckay 8mo ago
      Did you use the desktop or the CLI utility? (user group setting issue is a common hiccup) It pretty much just automates the standard Qemu/kvm setup workflows. =3
deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
tamimio 8mo ago
Nice journey, keep digging! Just one suggestion, I would put the lab network on a separate vlan and access it through a VPN (or tailscale, netbird, etc.) that way you don’t bother with any security risk and only you can access it once you are authenticated to the network, and even if you want to expose a service to the public, you can do so by reverse proxy or service-specific features like funnel from tailscale, so you replace ddns and portforwarding and keeping things secure.
- kingcrimson1000 8mo ago
  Thanks for the suggestion. Can you explain how my current setup with Wireguard is unsecure?
  - tamimio 8mo ago
    The issue isn't WireGuard, WireGuard is secure, and the services listed above are built on top of it, although they make things easier with centralized management. The issue is in the DDNS, there are many issues with it in terms of security (1), along with PF, you can look them up online, but the short answer goes back to the fact that you are exposing an internal service to the public internet, all it takes is some crawler/mass scanner/etc to find your running service and poke it. So, for example, if your home server is running CCTV or network storage service, accessed through DDNS, and the attacker found an exploit in that service, all your data is now under their mercy. The best risk management strategy is always avoidance, not mitigation, so if you can avoid any risk by never exposing it online and only access it through internal VPN, and maybe plus a reverse proxy, then you are set. (1) https://nextgeneration.digital/blog-dynamic-dns-security-concerns/ https://nextgeneration.digital/blog-dynamic-dns-security-con...
medbar 8mo ago
May I recommend https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted or the site by the same name for software that might scratch that one itch you weren’t even aware of
- kingcrimson1000 8mo ago
  Thanks for the recommendation! I am aware of this repo and hope to try some of the projects mentioned when I have the time. For now I am quite happy with my current setup.
  - medbar 8mo ago
    Great! Looking forward to reading about your journey should you choose to share again :^)
PlatoIsADisease 8mo ago
>I started out with Debian >There are still issues with driver and software compatibility but it is getting better in the recent years thanks to projects like Wine and Proton . OP, stop using outdated linux. Debian is intentionally outdated. You will never have a good experience with drivers when you are always using 2 year old kernels and software. 99.9% of humans think the word 'Stable' means bug free, but that isnt what Debian means by it. I recommend Fedora, which is not Arch, its just up-to-date linux.
- stevekemp 8mo ago
  The current "stable" distribution of Debian is version 13, codenamed trixie. It was initially released as version 13.0 on August 9th, 2025 and its latest update, version 13.3, was released on January 10th, 2026. So as of today the latest "stable" release of Debian is a month old. By contrast the last stable release of Fedora is Fedora 43, released on October 28, 2025 which four months old at this point. Really once you get software that works all of this is pointless anyway, you have working software and you update once every year or so, or when you find you need to. When you "need" to update is so personal that it cannot be predicted, but your FUD about Debian being universally old and outdated is clearly misleading at best and deliberately misleading at worst.
  - pdimitar 8mo ago
    You are getting too worked up about this, not to mention cherry-picking. Debian Trixie, to my knowledge, comes with Linux kernel 6.12 LTS. Many people with more modern hardware want the most modern Linux kernel -- currently 6.18 -- to support their devices. There are also countless stabilization patches (I heard some of my acquaintances praising their Linux kernel upgrades as finally giving them access to all features of various Bluetooth periphery but did not ask for details). Having a modern kernel is important. With Debian though, it's a friction. Can it still be done? Sure, or at least I hope so as I want to repurpose my gaming machine as a remote worker / station and the only viable choice inside WSL2 is Debian. I do hope I can somehow make Debian install a 6.18 kernel. Furthermore, you putting the word "need" in quotes implies non-determinism or even capriciousness -- those two cannot be further from the truth. Arch and Fedora can't come to WSL2 soon enough. ...and none of that is even touching on the issue of much older versions of all software in there. I want the latest Neovim, for example. For objective developer experience reasons. Debian stable is for purists or server admins. Not for users.
the__alchemist 8mo ago
For those who switched in the past few years: Has Wayland given you trouble? I was on a journey this morning after testing my software. It's a GUI CAD-style program for structural biology. I test it on Linux periodically to make sure it's cross-platform. The checks usually pass, with some subtlety regarding linking Cuda. Today, I observed that mouse + keyboard inputs to the 3D portion stopped working. Root cause: Ubuntu and some other distros recently switched to a GUI backend called Wayland. I don't remember upgrading, but maybe it happened during a system update? It has disabled low-level device inputs except for mouse movement. You can use window-based events instead, but IMO this is a mistake. An OS-level function shouldn't block hardware access. I want the OS to facilitate software and hardware; not create friction.
- stratosmacker 8mo ago
  Wayland had been around for a while, but I feel your pain. Overall it seems much more performant if that makes it any better
  - the__alchemist 8mo ago
    More performant is good! Of interest, I was able to insert a workaround (a few lines of `unsafe` which alter local env vars) into the program to have it use Xorg instead.
- Telaneo 8mo ago
  > For those who switched in the past few years: Has Wayland given you trouble? No, since I'm on Mint, and thus still on X11. I keep hearing about Wayland problems, and I pray they don't reach me when Mint switches; that the relevant problems will have been fixed by them time Mint does switch.
  - SchemaLoad 8mo ago
    Wayland has been pretty much a solved problem for a while now. Most distros have been shipping it by default for many years now.
the__alchemist 8mo ago
Anecdote from just now, from someone who's wanted to like LInux for ~20 years: I updated Nvidia drivers from version 580 to 590 on Ubuntu 24, using the additional drivers window. Rebooted. Now instead of the OS, it's booting into something called "BusyBox (initramfs). with a shell. No error message. I don't feel like dedicating an indefinite time to fixing it. Maybe now LLMs will have replaced searching forums and Stack Overflow. It is this class of problems that has kept me from switching. I'm not sure if it would be easier to track this down, or install the OS clean again. I lament having to make this decision.
- whalesalad 8mo ago
  This is usally due to DKMS (dynamic kernel module system). Each time you upgrade your kernel, the nvidia portion needs to be recompiled. If this goes wrong, you end up in a state where you cannot boot. This is why everyone in the linux world has a very sour taste for nvidia. It's not their fault per-say, but they did opt to go this route versus contributing their drivers to the kernel like everyone else.
  - the__alchemist 8mo ago
    That makes sense. Of interest, this was actually an easy fix; go to GRUB, and pick an older kernel! Ty for pointing me to the kernels.
    - SchemaLoad 8mo ago
      In the future or even today with immutable distros, you'll be able to roll back the entire OS the same way you can roll back the kernel to undo any change that breaks the system.
- ToucanLoucan 8mo ago
  This is the exact class of problems that pushed me into Apple's waiting arms. All (well, most. all of what I care about) of the flexibility and ease-of-use and efficiency of linux, stuffed into a gorgeous, well engineered product. I wish I could fix the things, I'll fully cosign the beef the hacker community has for Apple on that front. That being said, I don't see myself buying a Windows laptop anytime soon.
TacticalCoder 8mo ago
Like many here I also run a few things at home and I've got a variety of machine: a good old Pi as an unbound DNS server that is on 24/7, A N100 modern NUC, running headless, to stream movies/music (wife or kid or I turn it on when needed), a good old rock stable solid HP Z440 workstation which I use as a server (ECC RAM and 14 cores, yummy) for Proxmox/VMs/Docker/ZFS, etc. The workstation which I use as a server is only powered up when I need it. > I used Syncthing for file synchronization and PiHole as my local network DNS server to block unwanted incoming traffic. Nitpicking but a local DNS resolver doesn't block unwanted incoming traffic: it prevents unwanted domain names from resolving. Arguably if it blocks traffic then it's ongoing traffic that it blocks. Maybe he meant that the machine running PiHole also runs a firewall? I use unbound, not PiHole, so I'm not that familiar with PiHole (maybe PiHole also acts as a firewall?).
- kingcrimson1000 8mo ago
  Pihole now includes an unbound setup, they have a section on that in their docs.
drnick1 8mo ago
Why was this posted to HN? There is nothing new or original in the setup presented. People have been self-hosting all kinds of things on commodity hardware for decades, even things said to be "impossible" to self-host like email. Also, nobody should be buying an (overpriced) Raspberry Pi for self-hosting, when used mini-PCs are faster, more reliable (no SD card, better cooling), and often cheaper. Finally, I don't think you should use Proxmox in a home setting: too much abstraction, too much overhead (mainly memory). Use Docker where it makes sense, and deploy the rest bare metal.
- whalesalad 8mo ago
  The content on HN is upvoted by the community. If it appears on the homepage that means by nature it is of interest to the community.
- dev_l1x_be 8mo ago
  It has similar vibes as the "I use Arch btw." t-shirt.
- dunder_cat 8mo ago
  There's nothing new or original in a lot of things that get posted here. Reading about someone starting a journey provides an interesting catalyst for discussion. What they did right, what they did wrong, other things to try, or even just providing a push to someone else to also try. I'll take my turn on the soapbox to say I hope people keep posting about their adventures and misadventures in trying something new. I'd much rather be reading that than seeing yet another post on LLM-based agentic startups or pelicans riding bicycles.

kgwxd 8mo ago

Any would-be switchers, note these are 2 very different things. Self-Hosting sucks, period. For a million reasons that have nothing to do with the OS :) Trying both at once is going to be exponentially more painful than doing either alone.

GlitchRider47 8mo ago
Self-hosting sucks, yes. But I'll be damned if it isn't fun. It's definitely not for everyone. Not only is it not for everyone, but it is not for everyone's families. I'm so grateful that my wife is willing to put up with me experimenting on our home network, trying out different apps, waiting for me to resolve a DNS issue because I forgot to assign a static IP to my pihole.
- SchemaLoad 8mo ago
  I feel like it sucks a lot less than it used to. New apps like Immich work incredibly well, new tools like Tailscale make security and access to the home network easy, and LLMs make solving problems and getting ideas a lot easier.
kingcrimson1000 8mo ago
It is painful but I would say it is also rewarding as I learned a lot doing it!
- kgwxd 8mo ago
  I love learning that stuff too, until I learn what it takes to maintain it. At least internet facing stuff. I fully gave up on email a decade ago. That alone crushed all my excitement for the general idea. I have a local media server, but it's also just my main desktop.
boricj 8mo ago
Half-assing self-hosting sucks, regardless of the underlying platform. You tie things together with shoestrings and gum, leaving ticking timebombs and riddles to your future self. This is the point where I'm supposed to describe my self-hosting solution on my so-called homelab, where my blog lives. I won't, because it's both stupid in smart ways and smart in stupid ways, therefore it sucks all the way. Self-hosting is like any hobby. Half-ass it and you'll half-like it.
newsoftheday 8mo ago
> Self-Hosting sucks, period. I've been doing it for several decades now, it doesn't suck at all for me.
tamimio 8mo ago
It depends, do you have the time to maintain few things, or sometimes more than “few things”? Do you have the skills or at least willing to learn? Are you willing to deal with some basic contingency planning in case some stuff goes wrong? What kind of services are you replacing, if emails, probably not worth it, storage? Definitely. Do you have a reliable internet/power combo to rely on accessing your lab remotely? Say you are traveling and want to access your NAS to get a copy of XYZ document, last thing you want is that you are unable to do so because your power is down. So it really depends on the use case and many factors, if it works for you, great, otherwise and you are willing to pay some subscriptions, then be it.
gehsty 8mo ago
I think it’s fair to say it depends on what you are hosting and why - personal projects and curiosities, fun! Self hosting business critical data and customer data, minefield! Currently self hosting some little projects, using cloudflare tunnels to serve to the web, and it is surprisingly fun and efficient!
Dedime 8mo ago
Hot take alert! As an avid self-hoster, I'd like to hear why. Personally, I self host because the benefits I receive simply aren't available anywhere else at the level of quality I've come to expect - Jellyfin is a great media player, it's free, and I don't want to switch. Pihole provides ad protection and privacy for my whole home network. It's also free. Homeassistant is amazing, and free. Etc etc.
- Telaneo 8mo ago
  > It's also free. Only if you don't care about your time or if your media collection is tiny. Don't get me wrong, I love my 20 TB hard drives full of Linux ISOs, but it's a hard sell on anyone who doesn't have 'dicking about with computers' as their hobby. Regular old piracy using torrents has been a easier sell in my experience, once you can get over the hurdle of getting someone familiar with using a torrent client and the relevant search bar. Popcorn Time back in the day made that hurdle trivial. Getting people to use Jellyfin isn't hard. Getting someone to be the family/friend group Jellyfin sysadmin is a significantly tougher sell. Pihole and the like is an easier sell, since it can be mostly set and forget, but it's not free unless you already have a computer which isn't doing anything, and even if you do, that computer isn't guaranteed to be one which has near-zero running costs when you factor in electricity. The same sorts of problems apply to most things you can self-host.
  - bigstrat2003 8mo ago
    I can't speak for Jellyfin, as I currently use Plex. But it truly has been "set it and forget it" for me. I've never had an update break things, it just does its job and does it well.
  - SchemaLoad 8mo ago
    I don't think many advice non tech people to get in to self hosting, but there are a lot of people who do enjoy messing with computers who these articles are marketing to. The average user will only self host when it's a managed box they plug in and it just works. Like how Apple/Google home automation works. Maybe we will see managed products for photo / file syncing pop up.
beart 8mo ago
In my experience, containerization has made self-hosting most software a breeze. The biggest pain points I've come across are related to network architecture and security. I've frequently run into issues with certificates, proxy setups, DNS, etc. It seems like much of that stems around how many modern web concepts were not designed to easily support offline-first environments. Then again, that stuff has never been my area of expertise.
- SchemaLoad 8mo ago
  For me I've decided to just have everything behind a VPN. Tailscale and Cloudflare tunnels make this quite easy to set up, dealing with ddns and CGNAT for you. The upside is the security risk is massively reduced, an attacker would have to exploit both the VPN and the service behind it, both of these in theory being secure anyway. The downside is obviously that you require installing a VPN client to access services, but if it's only you using the server this isn't a huge deal.

SunshineTheCat 8mo ago

No comment on the hosting end of things, however, I switched to Ubuntu on my PC a couple of weekends ago and I still have not adjusted to the peace and quiet of not getting 87 meaningless windows notifications every time I boot up.

robby_w_g 8mo ago
No more updates in the middle of a multi-player game with friends. How will I ever live without Windows?
PlatoIsADisease 8mo ago
After you get frustreted having to use the terminal to make Ubuntu work, try Fedora. Ubuntu is outdated linux, it part of Debian-family, which goes by the misleading name 'stable'. Its not stable like a table. Its stable like software versions are frozen, despite bugs being fixed. Fedora isnt Arch, I think most Debian-family users don't realize they are unrelated. Fedora is just well maintained and generally up to date.
- scrollop 8mo ago
  I tried using Linux 5 years ago - too difficult to learn terminal commands to configfure everythiong. Tried again a few months ago and it's a breeze with an llm creating all the commands and code and troubleshooting. eg vibe coded a text transcriber similar to windows Voice Typing.
- simion314 8mo ago
  Right, cause latest packages bring only latest features and bug fixes and never bring new bugs, do you ever wonder how those bugs that the latest packages fix get in ? I recommend for people that want things to not change and not get new bugs every update to use an LTS distro like Kubuntu and only get latest kernels or drivers from a PPA or upstream if you really have to. I am not running the latest KDE stuff and I feel fine, I am not suffering in pain for some cool new feature in Plasma and some new bug, I am comfortable with the existing features and existing bugs.

gethly 8mo ago

As I had zero plans on moving to Windows 11, I was looking into which distros are popular nowadays over the past few weeks. Today, I tried Cachy OS and Aurora(non-gaming version of Bazzite) in VirtualBox and after 5 minutes I knew that after 30 years of using a computer with windows(dos, then w95 and onward) Linux is still not there yet on the desktop. I just can't believe how they still can't get the utmost basic things right. Yet here we are. And yes, you can game on linux nowadays, finally! Even get better performance due to Windows bloat. Office, OBS, internet, video...everything is working...yet it still is not there in usability. To be specific what irked me today when I tested them was installing new programs. On Cachy, I wanted to test jetbrains IDE. Last time i tested it was on suse and fedora in virtualbox last year and it worked but neither distribution was there just yet in UX. This time, I downloaded the tar version from jetbrains website. I could not open it(maybe due to it being run in live cd mode in virtualbox) or extract(no option in dir manager or decompression program) the content in Cachy. So I wanted to get 7zip but there was no linux version. Cachy has its own packages that can be opened(website) via its welcome screen(otherwise there is no program manager - no snaps, flatpacks...) and after downloading it with some arch file extension i could not install it. I could open it and see usr and bin directories but that helped me fuckall and i was not willing to tinker with this bs in 2026. Then in Aurora, it has bazaar for flatpacks, before i wasted bandwidth to download the IDE in vain again i preemptively wanted zip manager, there was pea..something. So i clicked install, it did and .. nothing. Nowhere to be found. Tried multiple times and no result. Could not find it anywhere. So I said F that and am sticking with the indian windows spyware. The devil you know and whatnot.

newsoftheday 8mo ago
Use a standard Linux distro like Kubuntu if you like KDE (Windows like) or Ubuntu if you like Gnome like and stay away from those ultra customized, time bomb distros and you will be fine. That's assuming your desired is sincere.
vel0city 8mo ago
> So I wanted to get 7zip but there was no linux version You didn't need 7zip, you can extract compressed tars natively. In fact, IntelliJ's docs tell you exactly what command to run. https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/installation-guide.html#standalone_linux https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/installation-guide.html#... sudo tar -xzf idea-*.tar.gz -C /opt

digiown 8mo ago

Proxmox is probably overkill for beginners. You'll know it when you want it. I recommend docker-compose based tools, especially dockge [1]. It drastically cuts down on the surface of weird things you have to deal with. Just put up a reasonable distro (I recommend Debian here, since Fedora tends to get some SELinux issues which would confuse beginners), install docker, and run it. You don't have to touch anything else system-wise (maybe except setting up encryption when installing) Most self-hostable services provide docke-compose files, which you can just paste in with some customizations, and run it from there. Tailscale for external access is probably the easiest solution. 1. https://dockge.kuma.pet/ https://dockge.kuma.pet/

newsoftheday 8mo ago
I use KVM, never tried proxmox, don't need it, don't want it.
Cyph0n 8mo ago
+1, only reach for Proxmox first if you’re really interested in learning it.
Joel_Mckay 8mo ago
And unstable for novices that have no clue what they are working with OS wise. The virt-manager is easy for most Desktop folks looking to drop Win11 in a frozen backing-image sandbox with a local samba folder loop-back mount (allows fake network share in Win11 or MacOS guest OS.) =3
- digiown 8mo ago
  Virt manager is the least intuitive (discounting actively antiuser crap) program I've ever dealt with. I still don't quite get it and I've used Linux exclusively for more than 5 years.
  - Joel_Mckay 8mo ago
    Did you use the desktop or the CLI utility? (user group setting issue is a common hiccup) It pretty much just automates the standard Qemu/kvm setup workflows. =3

deleted 8mo ago

[deleted]

tamimio 8mo ago

Nice journey, keep digging! Just one suggestion, I would put the lab network on a separate vlan and access it through a VPN (or tailscale, netbird, etc.) that way you don’t bother with any security risk and only you can access it once you are authenticated to the network, and even if you want to expose a service to the public, you can do so by reverse proxy or service-specific features like funnel from tailscale, so you replace ddns and portforwarding and keeping things secure.

kingcrimson1000 8mo ago
Thanks for the suggestion. Can you explain how my current setup with Wireguard is unsecure?
- tamimio 8mo ago
  The issue isn't WireGuard, WireGuard is secure, and the services listed above are built on top of it, although they make things easier with centralized management. The issue is in the DDNS, there are many issues with it in terms of security (1), along with PF, you can look them up online, but the short answer goes back to the fact that you are exposing an internal service to the public internet, all it takes is some crawler/mass scanner/etc to find your running service and poke it. So, for example, if your home server is running CCTV or network storage service, accessed through DDNS, and the attacker found an exploit in that service, all your data is now under their mercy. The best risk management strategy is always avoidance, not mitigation, so if you can avoid any risk by never exposing it online and only access it through internal VPN, and maybe plus a reverse proxy, then you are set. (1) https://nextgeneration.digital/blog-dynamic-dns-security-concerns/ https://nextgeneration.digital/blog-dynamic-dns-security-con...

medbar 8mo ago

May I recommend https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted or the site by the same name for software that might scratch that one itch you weren’t even aware of

kingcrimson1000 8mo ago
Thanks for the recommendation! I am aware of this repo and hope to try some of the projects mentioned when I have the time. For now I am quite happy with my current setup.
- medbar 8mo ago
  Great! Looking forward to reading about your journey should you choose to share again :^)

PlatoIsADisease 8mo ago

>I started out with Debian >There are still issues with driver and software compatibility but it is getting better in the recent years thanks to projects like Wine and Proton . OP, stop using outdated linux. Debian is intentionally outdated. You will never have a good experience with drivers when you are always using 2 year old kernels and software. 99.9% of humans think the word 'Stable' means bug free, but that isnt what Debian means by it. I recommend Fedora, which is not Arch, its just up-to-date linux.

stevekemp 8mo ago
The current "stable" distribution of Debian is version 13, codenamed trixie. It was initially released as version 13.0 on August 9th, 2025 and its latest update, version 13.3, was released on January 10th, 2026. So as of today the latest "stable" release of Debian is a month old. By contrast the last stable release of Fedora is Fedora 43, released on October 28, 2025 which four months old at this point. Really once you get software that works all of this is pointless anyway, you have working software and you update once every year or so, or when you find you need to. When you "need" to update is so personal that it cannot be predicted, but your FUD about Debian being universally old and outdated is clearly misleading at best and deliberately misleading at worst.
- pdimitar 8mo ago
  You are getting too worked up about this, not to mention cherry-picking. Debian Trixie, to my knowledge, comes with Linux kernel 6.12 LTS. Many people with more modern hardware want the most modern Linux kernel -- currently 6.18 -- to support their devices. There are also countless stabilization patches (I heard some of my acquaintances praising their Linux kernel upgrades as finally giving them access to all features of various Bluetooth periphery but did not ask for details). Having a modern kernel is important. With Debian though, it's a friction. Can it still be done? Sure, or at least I hope so as I want to repurpose my gaming machine as a remote worker / station and the only viable choice inside WSL2 is Debian. I do hope I can somehow make Debian install a 6.18 kernel. Furthermore, you putting the word "need" in quotes implies non-determinism or even capriciousness -- those two cannot be further from the truth. Arch and Fedora can't come to WSL2 soon enough. ...and none of that is even touching on the issue of much older versions of all software in there. I want the latest Neovim, for example. For objective developer experience reasons. Debian stable is for purists or server admins. Not for users.

the__alchemist 8mo ago

For those who switched in the past few years: Has Wayland given you trouble? I was on a journey this morning after testing my software. It's a GUI CAD-style program for structural biology. I test it on Linux periodically to make sure it's cross-platform. The checks usually pass, with some subtlety regarding linking Cuda. Today, I observed that mouse + keyboard inputs to the 3D portion stopped working. Root cause: Ubuntu and some other distros recently switched to a GUI backend called Wayland. I don't remember upgrading, but maybe it happened during a system update? It has disabled low-level device inputs except for mouse movement. You can use window-based events instead, but IMO this is a mistake. An OS-level function shouldn't block hardware access. I want the OS to facilitate software and hardware; not create friction.

stratosmacker 8mo ago
Wayland had been around for a while, but I feel your pain. Overall it seems much more performant if that makes it any better
- the__alchemist 8mo ago
  More performant is good! Of interest, I was able to insert a workaround (a few lines of `unsafe` which alter local env vars) into the program to have it use Xorg instead.
Telaneo 8mo ago
> For those who switched in the past few years: Has Wayland given you trouble? No, since I'm on Mint, and thus still on X11. I keep hearing about Wayland problems, and I pray they don't reach me when Mint switches; that the relevant problems will have been fixed by them time Mint does switch.
- SchemaLoad 8mo ago
  Wayland has been pretty much a solved problem for a while now. Most distros have been shipping it by default for many years now.

the__alchemist 8mo ago

Anecdote from just now, from someone who's wanted to like LInux for ~20 years: I updated Nvidia drivers from version 580 to 590 on Ubuntu 24, using the additional drivers window. Rebooted. Now instead of the OS, it's booting into something called "BusyBox (initramfs). with a shell. No error message. I don't feel like dedicating an indefinite time to fixing it. Maybe now LLMs will have replaced searching forums and Stack Overflow. It is this class of problems that has kept me from switching. I'm not sure if it would be easier to track this down, or install the OS clean again. I lament having to make this decision.

whalesalad 8mo ago
This is usally due to DKMS (dynamic kernel module system). Each time you upgrade your kernel, the nvidia portion needs to be recompiled. If this goes wrong, you end up in a state where you cannot boot. This is why everyone in the linux world has a very sour taste for nvidia. It's not their fault per-say, but they did opt to go this route versus contributing their drivers to the kernel like everyone else.
- the__alchemist 8mo ago
  That makes sense. Of interest, this was actually an easy fix; go to GRUB, and pick an older kernel! Ty for pointing me to the kernels.
  - SchemaLoad 8mo ago
    In the future or even today with immutable distros, you'll be able to roll back the entire OS the same way you can roll back the kernel to undo any change that breaks the system.
ToucanLoucan 8mo ago
This is the exact class of problems that pushed me into Apple's waiting arms. All (well, most. all of what I care about) of the flexibility and ease-of-use and efficiency of linux, stuffed into a gorgeous, well engineered product. I wish I could fix the things, I'll fully cosign the beef the hacker community has for Apple on that front. That being said, I don't see myself buying a Windows laptop anytime soon.

TacticalCoder 8mo ago

Like many here I also run a few things at home and I've got a variety of machine: a good old Pi as an unbound DNS server that is on 24/7, A N100 modern NUC, running headless, to stream movies/music (wife or kid or I turn it on when needed), a good old rock stable solid HP Z440 workstation which I use as a server (ECC RAM and 14 cores, yummy) for Proxmox/VMs/Docker/ZFS, etc. The workstation which I use as a server is only powered up when I need it. > I used Syncthing for file synchronization and PiHole as my local network DNS server to block unwanted incoming traffic. Nitpicking but a local DNS resolver doesn't block unwanted incoming traffic: it prevents unwanted domain names from resolving. Arguably if it blocks traffic then it's ongoing traffic that it blocks. Maybe he meant that the machine running PiHole also runs a firewall? I use unbound, not PiHole, so I'm not that familiar with PiHole (maybe PiHole also acts as a firewall?).

kingcrimson1000 8mo ago
Pihole now includes an unbound setup, they have a section on that in their docs.

drnick1 8mo ago

Why was this posted to HN? There is nothing new or original in the setup presented. People have been self-hosting all kinds of things on commodity hardware for decades, even things said to be "impossible" to self-host like email. Also, nobody should be buying an (overpriced) Raspberry Pi for self-hosting, when used mini-PCs are faster, more reliable (no SD card, better cooling), and often cheaper. Finally, I don't think you should use Proxmox in a home setting: too much abstraction, too much overhead (mainly memory). Use Docker where it makes sense, and deploy the rest bare metal.

whalesalad 8mo ago
The content on HN is upvoted by the community. If it appears on the homepage that means by nature it is of interest to the community.
dev_l1x_be 8mo ago
It has similar vibes as the "I use Arch btw." t-shirt.
dunder_cat 8mo ago
There's nothing new or original in a lot of things that get posted here. Reading about someone starting a journey provides an interesting catalyst for discussion. What they did right, what they did wrong, other things to try, or even just providing a push to someone else to also try. I'll take my turn on the soapbox to say I hope people keep posting about their adventures and misadventures in trying something new. I'd much rather be reading that than seeing yet another post on LLM-based agentic startups or pelicans riding bicycles.