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Moving to Linux, need help about homelab distro (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Hey, folks I'm moving my main PC to linux soon, and for that I have settled on Mint. However, I also plan to build a homelab pc for the first time to selfhost some services, mainly Jellyfinn, some game servers, and possibly next cloud, but I'm unsure which distro to go with for that.

I have some experience running debian headless (on an orange pi) and I can use ssh and the cli just fine, however, I also want the server pc to (maybe) serve as a moonlight client in my living room, so I was leaning towards something that is not headless, and I am unsure if I should also go with Mint for that or if something else might be more suitable.

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[–] -4 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Arch for the flexibility. You can install all the software you need on it with ease and no ppa's

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    That seems like an unreliable high maintenance choice for a server.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    It's a homelab, not a production server

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    I still wouldn't like if my hobby had me troubleshooting every other week. I speak from experience when I say it's no fun having to constantly fix your homelab after a busy work day. I just want something reliable. Especially when it's handling a lot of personal and important data.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    I guess that depends on a server, but all my non-Arm servers are on Arch, and it’s been rock solid so far. (Years, close to a decade.) What I like is that I don’t need to upgrade it (meaning across versions), I just update it here and there, non-regularly. Never had a single issue. Perhaps I’m lucky and asking for trouble. One machine runs root on an encrypted RAID-0, so I’d test my backup strategy. Another one runs root on RAID-1. Another one runs root on USB drive.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    I second this, my old server was previously OMV and then Proxmox. But with my replacement server I went Arch after loving my Steam Deck experience. You’ll learn a lot and I feel like the complaints of it constantly breaking aren’t true if you put a little effort before running updates. I mostly use it headless for remote development (LazyVim) and running containers (moved to Podman from Docker), but I also use Niri for the DE when I do need to use a monitor, for example playing Dwarf Fortress.

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