Start Self Hosting

systemd → does a lot of things on modern Linux systems, amongst which is dealing with services that should autostart (think: both low-level stuff like Bluetooth or user-level stuff like a Dropbox client or a VPN or whatever).

Unit files → fairly simple text files that are used to define such stuff for systemd (usually in /etc/systemd/system and /usr/lib/systemd/system).

Package manager → essentially the same as an app store on a phone. It's how you install and update packages (packages could be a fully fledged graphical app or just a terminal command).

Webserver → what allows you to "run websites" on your own machine. For the simplest example, if you run `python -m http.server` in a terminal on a Unix-like system, congrats, you can now browse your files in a browser (127.0.0.1:8000). If you know your local IP, you can also open it from a phone and download stuff from your desktop, zero apps or cables or FTPs necessary.

So, to decipher that comment above: you usually don't have to worry about how things run automatically because that's usually pre-configured when you install them. In most simple self-hosting scenarios you just "install a website" on your spare laptop or whatever and you're good to go. That website usually serves traffic via a webserver on some port, and you access it via local network IP and a port (example: 192.168.1.100:8000).

Now if you go deeper and want to run multiple things simultaneously, each accessible via a domain instead of a port, accessible from outside of your home, properly backed up and with a valid HTTPS connection, and then you hear about this thing called Docker... well, from my experience, you're gonna wake up on a day like this and go to work as a sysadmin with 3 years of experience, basically writing YAML for a living.

So in conclusion, apart from some outliers like Plex.tv, I wouldn't call the process layperson-friendly, but hey, it might make your tinkering into a career.

The awesome-selfhosted list is ..well.. awesome, however it lacks a hardware category to collect links and information on cheap low power small devices to be used to host our personal data/services, both to avoid keeping beefier PCs up 24/7 and to better isolate their functions.

It could for example include from tiny boards with the bare minimum necessary to host very light services (Single NIC Raspberry/Orange/Nano/Banana PI, etc.) to small sized boards either with storage capabilities or a couple NICs to be used as moderate traffic firewalls (PCEngines.ch APU, etc) and bigger and more powerful systems with multiple NICs for SOHO+ sized servers and firewalls (www.ipu-system.de etc).

Also, this m.2 to SATA port replicator reportedly works perfectly with Linux (Possibly FreeBSD/XigmaNAS too) as do many other JMB575 based cards. Could turn any cheap board into a low cost NAS. https://www.ebay.com/itm/203735847811

Too long for Mini PCs accepting only 2242 modules? Here's the extender. https://www.ebay.com/itm/263570657382

..etc.

> For someone who just wants to self host, having to learn about systemd, by definition makes the product/system not easy.

Sometimes HN threads seem to self-sustain forever starting from a pointless argument and discussing it like it was the truth.

Learning systemd is not necessary for anything in day to day life, not in desktop use, not in self hosting, default configuration from package managers work fine out of the box. At most you need to learn how to start, stop, disable and query service status.

I've been using linux since decades, way before systemd, never had to learn systemd until I needed to ship my own custom services on my own custom devices. But at the point you're way far from being a layperson.

Are you implying that getting init script customisations overwritten by package managers isn't a problem with non-systemd init managers?

I have lost track how often that happened with sysvinit, because the "logic" how to treat customisations was usually handled by the package manager and they messed it up regularly.

systemd has a standard way to handle customisations. As long as you put everything you do in /etc/systemd/system, everything is fine. It's simple and works across distributions.

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