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What OS should I use for self-hosting that doesn't require extensive terminal knowledge? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by scheep@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world

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I am trying to use my old laptops for self-hosting. One has a 6th gen Intel Core i3 (4GB ram), the other has an 11th gen Intel Core i5 (8GB ram). I have previously tried both ubuntu server and desktop but couldn't get it to work well. For the former I found it difficult to remote ssh and the latter I had difficulty installing Docker containers. (I'm not very good with the command line)

I would like to find an OS that is easier to setup with less of a neccesity for the command line (I would still like to learn how to use it though, I don't want to get rid of it entirely!). I've heard of CasaOS, is that a good option? It seems quite easy to use. What about other alternatives?

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[–] Sebbe@lemmy.sebbem.se 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

User asks specifically how to do terminal based things without using the terminal. Fuck you, specifically.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Windows has IIS which has a UI

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

There’s a reason that’s not very popular outside of corporate intranets.

[+] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world -11 points 6 days ago (2 children)

[removed by mod]

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Desktop? This entire discussion is about server software

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

We’re talking about servers here. Linux is the market leader in server software by an absolutely enormous margin.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world -2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It staggers me how dense you are, but the insight into how fanatics lose track of the plot is worth the pain of admission

The thread is about self-hosting with as little CLI as possible, and the only functioning difference between most 'server' and 'desktop' linux distros is just a prepackaged gui

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I mean if that’s what you think, I can tell you don’t work in the industry. Desktop editions generally have more than just a “prepackaged GUI” on top of a server edition.

Server editions generally have text based installers. This might not seem like a big deal, until you’re installing on a system that doesn’t have any graphics, just a serial console.
They almost always have an easy way to do headless and network installations.
They sometimes have additional security modules, like SELinux, different kernel boot parameters, or even different kernel versions. (Although this is less common nowadays.)
They’re also missing an audio server (different than a GUI), and usually a print server.
They can often be GBs lighter, which makes a difference when you’re installing on virtual machines with limited disk space.
They sometimes use different file systems by default (like Fedora used to).
They might create different swap setups.
They usually have very different network defaults. Like, desktop editions usually have a firewall, whereas server editions usually don’t (or it’s not enabled by default).
Server editions often include terminal tools that desktop editions don’t.
They’ll sometimes have a different network manager (Ubuntu Server uses systemd-networkd while Ubuntu Desktop uses Network-Manager).
Server editions almost never come with userland file mounting tools like gvfs.
Sometimes (like in Fedora) a server edition will come with remote management solutions like Cockpit.
The home directory skeletons will be vastly different on a server vs a desktop.

That’s just off the top of my head. I’m sure there are plenty more I could find.

Now, since you seem like you might accuse me of it, note that I did not say that a server edition and a desktop edition can’t be swapped back and forth by installing and removing packages and changing a bunch of config. They can. But, it’s not “just” some GUI stuff that makes a desktop edition, and it’s not “just” the lack of a GUI that makes a server edition. They are usually quite different.

Source: I’ve been a professional Linux server administrator for 16 years. But don’t take my word for it. Try it yourself. Install Ubuntu server, then run sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop and see if it’s exactly the same as installing Ubuntu Desktop.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Son I've been an IT professional since before the internet had pictures and have spun up more linux hosts than you've had fap sessions.

and see if it’s exactly the same as installing Ubuntu Desktop.

There is no way to convert a Windows Server into a desktop compatible device without recompiling significant portions of the source code, and at that point all you are doing is recapitulating Windows Desktop

There are several ways, though not trivial, to do that with linux, in both directions. I've literally done it.

It doesn't matter what extra packages get bundled with the distro that at a fundamental level all versions of linux are the same thing under the hood

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

So yeah, even though I specifically said you’d probably accuse me of saying something and specifically told you I wasn’t saying that, you still accused me of it. You should work on your reading comprehension.

Now, you said that a desktop edition is virtually the same as a server edition + a prepackaged GUI. I gave you plenty of reasons they’re not.

As an IT professional, you absolutely should know this. So far, the only skill you’ve shown any true mastery of is misguided condescension. So instead of arguing against a point I didn’t make, if you’d like to argue against my actual point, feel free. Otherwise, maybe realize you’re not as educated as you thought, and learn.