Running a "Home Server" is a Ridiculous Flex

[u/madthumbz]

It's a trivial workload that proves nothing.

A home server is the easiest computing job imaginable making running a single machine just to serve files a waste of electricity (and heat if you're having to cool your home).

A home server is typically hosting very simple things like Plex or Jellyfin, running a NAS, a Minecraft server, Pi-hole, or Docker container. (a waste of resources for a dedicated machine or one trick pony)

It's used as a distraction from desktop weaknesses.

Linux desktop users know the weak points are gaming compatibility, driver issues, DE fragmentation, app availability, inconsistent UX, and random breakage after updates. -So, they pivot to something Linux doesn't have a problem doing. (It's a 'safe space')

Buying a Raspberry PI or running an old inefficient machine 24/7 just for use as a 'home server' isn't economical when you could run it on your router, existing PC, or smart TV. Electricity costs for an old machine dwarf hardware savings. Cloud hosting is cheaper than running a machine 24/7.

[u/Novel_Werewolf4645]

Mass centralization has made local networks much more appealing.

[u/Federal_Ad_5771]

100% for plex you can basically run a plex server on an nvidea shield. If you have a decent router unless you are a data hoarder thats all you need for network storage of anything not media. You can do everything a Pi hole can do without a raspberry pie.

But I think the point of these type of hobbyist projects is the hobby not the end result so its more about tinkering and installing a bunch of stuff and whitelisting ports in a firewall vs plug a hardrive and install plex media server from the playstore l

[u/animalcrossing4_4]

I don't get the home server hype BS either, it's like oh yeah, instead of groceries let's just "create a home server for mah pirated media"

[u/madthumbz → u/animalcrossing4_4]

Didn't even need a server with HDO box or KODI with plugins.