this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2026
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[Question(s)] Hyper beginner, i have a bunch of questions (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by curious_beetle@lemmy.ml to c/selfhost@lemmy.ml
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As title says, i want to start self hosting but i have a lot of questions about it. For more context, i want to self host XMPP, matrix, Immich, an email, forgejo and a minimal website. i want to ask you:

  1. Where should i buy my domain and are there any things i should be careful about?

  2. does the end of my domain (idk the specific name but .XYZ) matter at all?

  3. I get that i should use a used PC (i have none lying around), but how old?

  4. Am i willing to self host too much stuff?

  5. Can i use Gentoo, Devuan, or other non-systemd distros as an OS?

Sorry for the noob questions but i struggle to find answers online, feel free to tell me to RTFM ~_~;
Also, i have experience with Linux as a desktop OS, more specifically 3 years, one of which mostly in gentoo, but i’ve daily driven Arch, Artix, Debian, Void among others

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[–] dihutenosa@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

  1. dunno

  2. dunno

  3. If you're tight on budget (and who isn't), an old Android phone makes a passable server - especially one that can run Nura (used to be called PostmarketOS) - check https://wiki.nura.eco/wiki/Devices

  4. Looks good to me. Be careful with email, it's hard (yet possible) to get right. Here's my answer to someone asking what everybody's self-hosting: https://piefed.social/comment/12336670

  5. Yes you can. Or FreeBSD, like others mentioned, or OpenBSD or Haiku OS or Windows - as long as it's able to start the application you want to host. Some applications run on anything - check nginx. The question is what's good to self-host on - the answer is "whatever gives you least headache". I'm using NixOS, for its powerful text-based configuration system (store the whole OS config in Git), atomic upgrades and rollbacks. As for systemd - it's a tool. I use it, it suits me fine. If it raises your cortisol, exercise your ability to choose - find a distro without systemd - but also remember that systemd is also a legit choice. many people (like me) are completely fine with running a systemd-based distro.

Also check out a comment I once wrote to someone asking how to get started:
https://piefed.social/comment/11341527

[–] curious_beetle@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Thanks, my beef with systemd isn’t really about usability but i have problems with the philosophy and the age verification ground work. I could use it no problem, i just don’t want to

[–] dihutenosa@piefed.social 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Don't get stuck :) Use a non-systemd distro, if that floats your boat, we're pro-choice here.

Btw, (if I understood the debacle correctly), the age verification thing (as I understood it) is an API for requesting your age, not a proof of your age. It makes it easier for you to lie about your age, to programs that just want to know it. I cannot fathom a scenario where an open-source OSS could be prevented from reporting 1970-01-01 as everybody's age.

[–] curious_beetle@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

I get it, honestly i just find weird the fact that they’d include age verification in the first place, and aside from that i don’t like most things about systemd anyway like the large codebase and the incredible amount of extra services they offer