I’m an English teacher who wanted to “cut the cord” wherever I could, so I started learning about domain hosts, containerization, .yaml files, etc.
Since then, I’ve been hosting several pods for file sharing and streaming for many years, and I’m currently thinking about learning kubernetes for home deployment. But why?
If you aren’t in development, IT, cyber security, or in a related profession, what made you want to learn this on your own? What made you want to pick this up as a hobby?
Some youtubers like Networkchuck and Chris from BigBearTechWorld. Especially the last one convinced me with his structured and kind style. His Discourse forum is really helpful.
Getting sick of google having a degree of control over my data and the increasing AI being jammed down everyones throats. Combined with the keylogging keyboards and OS’s which are becoming more and more invasive by the month. Time for some liberation. I also enjoy learning coding, docker, networking etc. Cost is another factor. Although I could lie and say a 1 time fee for a server will be cheaper than Google One. Yeh it was at the start on paper but realistically after you upgrade drives and ram and buy backup drive etc it does start to add up.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
Fewer Letters More Letters DNS Domain Name Service/System NAS Network-Attached Storage Plex Brand of media server package SATA Serial AT Attachment interface for mass storage SSD Solid State Drive mass storage VPS Virtual Private Server (opposed to shared hosting)
[Thread #87 for this comm, first seen 12th Feb 2026, 16:01] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
My background is in graphic design/marketing and I’ve mostly worked in the non-profit sector. A few years ago I canceled my Spotify subscription after they hiked up the prices and decided I wanted a way to stream my own music collection from anywhere. I found Navidrone, began learning docker, fell down the Jellyfin/arr rabbit hole, and eventually stumbled upon Cosmos Server as a simpler way to expose my containers safely. It’s been a fun project and a welcoming community so far.
Bravo! CosmOS does look pretty nice. If I had better hardware, I might try something like that. Right now I’m using Fedora Server because of the SELinux, copilot, and podman support out of the box.
I’ve noticed that, too, about the community. I think part of the reason for the friendliness is a desire to see the community grow. Self-hosting feels very grassroots.


