Can anyone share their experiences of running a NAS with ZimaOS or similar software vs just using Debian?

I’m pretty comfortable on the command line and like having full control over my system. I’m happily running Debian and using Docker Compose to run Immich, Home Assistant, Jellyfin, and a few other services. I also use Tailscale and have https setup.

However, I am curious to learn more about these more turnkey solutions. Are they worth switching to? I guess ZimaOS comes with a mobile app? Is that useful? Does ZimaOS make it easier for end users to use? Is managing ZimaOS annoying?

Is ZimaOS even worth considering if is not Open Source?

  • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
    2·
    23 hours ago

    I think whether you do closed source software is a personal choice. Based on considerations of your application. Like money, of if you want to rely on a company and how well they do their job, if it’s still gonna be around in 7 years. If you can customize it enough to suit your needs. Or you base the decision on ideology.

    I’ve been using Yunohost on the NAS. And it’s simple, works well and is pretty reliable, I didn’t get any major issues for many years now. (And in general, community maintained open-source software has served me well. So that’s what I do.)

    Downsides as a proficient Linux user are: You can’t just mess with the config while the automatic scripts also mess with the config. You need to learn how they’re set up and work around that. Hope software has a config.d or overrides directory and put your customizations there. Or something will get messed up eventually. And you can’t just change arbitrary things. The mailserver or SSO or reverse proxy and a few other components are tightly integrated and you’re never gonna be able to switch from postfix to stalwart or something like that. Or retrofit a more modern authentication solution. It is a limiting factor.
    And YunoHost doesn’t do containers, so I doubt it’s what you’re looking for anyway.

    I’m a bit split on the entire promise of turnkey selfhosting solutions. Some of them work really well. And they’re badly needed to enable regular people to emancipate themselves from big tech. Whether you as an expert want to use them is an entirely different question. I think that just depends on application. If you have a good setup, that might be better suited to your needs. And if done right might be very low maintenance as well. So switching to a turnkey solution would be extra work and it might not pay off. Or it does pay off, I think that really depends on the specifics.