Selfhosted

There are a lot of comments about setups, which is fine and all.

2 things if you're completely green:

1. Yunohost simplifies a lot of installs and gives you popular applications with ease. You can SSH into it later for more customizations too.
2. ZimaOS is a great NAS platform for basically any hardware. It'll run Docker containers and gives you a little more control, but it's a outlet more complicated for someone new. I see a lot of Synology references, just think of this like a free/cheap Synology. (Cheap bc they do have a "pro" version giving you unlimited disks whereas free is up to 4HDDs. I'm currently using 18 drives).

I just feel this is the most automated and complete way to get set up quickly, both have forums and community support too.

My first question would be, how familiar are you with the Linux cli? How much experience do you have with Docker containers? You are right, your list is quite extensive. and there is nothing wrong with goals, but I would caution to start small and slow. I would learn how to:

• Drive the Linux bus fairly well. I'm using Ubuntu Jammy for my servers, but there are other options. NixOS seems popular.
• Understand what reverse proxies are and how to deploy one. Caddy is pretty much dead simple with a small learning curve. There are many of them to choose from tho.
• Learn about various security implementations. Security is paramount. Fail2ban is a good start, but I would also explore Crowdsec, Wazuh, etc.
• Learn about Docker and how to set up Docker containers so that they are secure.
• Instead of mass deploying apps and containers, choose one. Get to know it on a personal basis. The installation process, the security aspect, etc. Things are easier when there is only one container to mother hen. Then as your knowledge base grows, add another......and so on.
• Document everything you do. Seriously. You can't write too many notes. When you've successfully deployed your first app while documenting, go back and clean up your notes and make them a part of your 3,2,1 back up policy. I can almost guarentee you that 6 months down the road, you won't be able to remember every command you typed in or what you've done. Documentation makes troubleshooting much easier.
• Speaking of backups, you'll need a reliable way to make backups of your server. Borg seems to be quite popular, but there are others.
• Have fun!

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

[Thread #288 for this comm, first seen 14th May 2026, 21:10] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

You'll need a public IP. CGNAT won't do, unless you'll also add Tailscale (or such) in all your client devices (which might actually be OK).

Grab an old laptop from a junk heap. Ask around for discarded computers. Possibly get an old dead Android (possibly with a broken if barely functional screen) and install Termux. Buying stuff is not green. A laptop with a 5-second battery life, completely broken screen and nonfunctional keyboard will be perfectly good for self-hosting - temporarily plug in an external screen + keyboard, until you get SSH up and running. The rest of access will happen over SSH anyway.

Install your favorite Linux distro (I like NixOS. Debian would be a good basic yet powerful choice).

Set up a webserver (nginx is a solid choice). Serve some static files in LAN.
Make your webserver accessible to the internet. Get a TLS certificate for it, for free, from Letsencrypt. Host a blog. Set up Vaultwarden and import existing passwords into it.

At this moment, your possibilities widen up - many, many services are commonly set up behind a reverse proxy (nginx the webserver is going to decrypt the TLS, then proxy the plaintext connection to your services, so your actual service doesn't need the hassle of TLS encryption). For example Nextcloud.

Set up a Snikket server and install Snikket app in your smartphone (Dino works well on Linux). Tell your significant other, or family, or the closest friend that this is a fallback communication channel in case your main one ever goes down. Set up a STUN/TURN server and start video calling each other.

Email is a hassle. I self-host it, along with an authoritative DNS server and several other things, but it's not for the faint of the heart.