I'm not affiliated with this in any way but saw it posted at the other place & thought fellow Lemmyzens might like to take a look.
I always find it quite hard to answer "favorite" apps as some infrastructure critical self hosted apps aren't as sexy as others which sit front & centre so I feel they often don't seem to get as much credit or attention (such as NGinX/DuckDNS compared to Immich/Jellyfin etc)
Hi everyone,
Like in previous years, I'm running a survey about self-hosting. The focus is on your favorite self-hosted apps, but there are plenty of other (optional) questions too. The top five app lists are free response fields, you don't have to select the suggestions.
Link to take the survey:
https://survey.deployn.de/s/self-host-2026
More info:
The survey is anonymous. Like last year, results will be published in aggregated form. I'm currently planning to publish them in December.
It takes about 10-25 minutes.
Some of you asked for more questions in the comments. I added a lot at first, then realized it took 45 minutes to fill out properly. So I threw some out again, but there are still quite a few. The survey now has a core section that mainly covers the MVPs (your 5 favorite apps), and you can switch on other modules if you want. Almost every question is optional and can be skipped. If you answer everything at a reasonable pace, it takes around 20 minutes.
The proprietary survey tool caused new problems every year, so last year I switched to HeyForm while the survey was already running. That wasn't ideal for my purposes either, so this year the survey runs on a new app. It should also make entering your apps faster.
It's still easier to fill out on a desktop computer.
Thank you in advance for participating.
I can't self host I'm not smart enough :-(
Don't be so down on yourself mate, start with the Linux upskill challenge then look at some Docker YouTube tutorials. You will be there in no time.
A lot of it is doing what other people tell you to do. This may be encouraging or not, but I consider myself fairly versed in tech and there is still troubleshooting where it feels like trying things at random rather than any skilled insight to a solution. The take-away is it's okay to skip an app that has terrible documentation and you can't figure out. Start with something that has good tutorials and if that doesn't work, try something else. If you can get that up and running those skills will carry over.
Legitimate feedback for the survey.
Whether you think you are or aren't smart enough, you're right!
If you want to do it, read up and just try it. Throw a Linux install on an old desktop or laptop and try to follow a guide and make it work. It seems daunting, but most anyone can follow a guide and get to a usable product.
I'm not either but I still do it.
I didn't know anything about self-hosting when I started either. There is a learning curve but it's not difficult, just takes some time and is totally worth it to own your data, have a little more privacy and to stop shelling out money for subscriptions, etc. Totally worth it. I've been self hosting for almost 2 years now and have learned alot but still learning every day. Theres alot I still don't know and still encounter issues at times but it doesn't keep me from figuring it out and to keep self-hosting. Go for it, you won't regret it.
I'm a year or so longer on my self-hosting journey than you, but also get humbled like a noob on a regular basis. I was a Linux user for over a decade when I first started self-hosting but I knew nothing about networking because I always lived places where someone else managed the internet. I've learned a lot since then, but I have a lot left to learn. It really does take time to get a comprehensive understanding of what you are doing and why, but the good news is you can learn a lot through osmosis and we are already doing it just by being here.
Exactly. I'm actually the opposite. I was a Windows user for years and years since the days of 3.1. When I started my self-hosting about 2 years ago, I switched my pc and server to Linux and have been using Linux fully now. Aside from Linux being better for self-hosting, I wanted to finally get away from the mess that Windows has become and the dirty crap Microsoft pulls now.
Did you have any exposure in Linux before eventually switching, or did you just step straight from the Windows world into the great Linux unknown?
Windows 3.1 has a bit of a fond spot in my heart. Even though we didn't have 3.1 at home, the school computer lab used it. We used to scare the teacher by typing "dir stat" or something like that into the terminal to make the text scroll like we were hacking stuff in a movie 🤣 (she didn't know anything about computers, just there to make sure we didn't run off with them). I also recall those colorful all-in-one Macintosh computers making an appearance at a different school.
I had very little exposure and knowledge of Linux. Tried it years ago but it didn't stick. So basically when I moved the PCs to it, it was pretty much jumping in and just going for it and learning. I chose OSes that still had a bit of a Windows feel so I didn't feel completely lost. But, as mentioned before, still alot to learn using the terminal, etc.
Yeah, I miss the old Windows OSes and the way they were. Those were my very fun and nostalgiac days on a computer. Newer versions just aren't good anymore. 🤣 ahhh yes, the Macs that were bright oranges and greens and reds lol, definitely remember using those in schools.
We are all learning and we all make mistakes. It's part of the journey.
yunohost + ebay or old office desktop (or literally any computer you can get your hands on for cheap). There's a lot of people with very strong opinions but you really don't need much.