I went with Truenas Scale and was pleasantly surprised it needed no command line kung fu
this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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TrueNAS scale seems like the perfect option, the only downside is that my old laptops don't meet the hardware requirements
Like RAM?
Not that important. I ran it with ¼-½ of the recommended RAM (1GB RAM per TB)
I tried installing an ISO and it black screened. weird.
FWIW I've been using Ubuntu desktop with CasaOS for a couple of months now to host Nextcloud, Jellfin, Immich and a few other bits and bobs with absolutely no issues at all so far!
(I’m not very good with the command line)
Me either so I take a lot of notes about commands and command sequences. Also, I find that Grok is pretty decent at explaining commands. AI is a wonderful tool, but you also need to do your due diligence in ascertaining whether AI has given you the correct information. I would not copy/paste random commands into a production server, but rather I have a small test server for that kind of stuff. Once I have the command, tested, and understand the command, I can then use that in a production environment.
In as much as I love a good WUI, you will have to learn some cli, it's just inevitable, especially in a headless environment. It may seem daunting at first because there are literally thousands of commands and command sequences. I honestly doubt if even the geekiest nerds on the planet know all by heart. For each command sequence, there are probably hundreds of ways to compose the same command. I would admonish you to download Notepad ++ and start keeping notes on the commands you use. Later on, the fun part is looking back on your notes to see all the commands you now know and what they do.
Core utilities (like ls, cd, cat, etc.) from projects like GNU Coreutils provide around 100-200 commands. Additional tools from packages (e.g., grep, awk, sed) and system utilities (e.g., systemctl, iptables) can add hundreds more. On a system with many packages installed, running compgen -c | sort -u | wc -l in a Bash shell might show 2,000–10,000+ unique commands, depending on the setup.
Writing down different commands on a note seems like a good idea. Thanks!
Windows Server 2022
Ubuntu. Many will disagree but, Debian flavors are a way smoother experience from the start and Ubuntu has a ton of community support. You'll rarely find an issue no one found and solved before you.
Ubuntu has gone downhill a lot in the last decade. I no longer can recommend it. Yes there is a large community, but they make too many questionable decisions and so doing anything "different" will be hard.
Yeah, I don't recommend settling on it, but I stand by learning on it. It will be the most frictionless. It'll ease you into resolving hairy problems in a way that is less discouraging, because they're not quite as hairy.
Anything but Ubuntu for the most part
Mint, Fedora, Rocky or whatever else
Would absolutely not recommend fedora as a first distro.
Fedora better than Ubuntu in a lot of ways
Also with Fedora 42 there is a entirely new installer so it is much easier to setup.
It is a testing ground for new features. It is literally one of the worst beginner distros. Shit breaks constantly. That is not good for beginners. Just because you like it doesn't make it good for beginners.
We're not talking about what distros are good. We are talking about what is good for beginners.
Have you even used Fedora recently? It is well tested and focused on being beginner friendly. That wasn't always the case but it changed a few years ago.
I'm done arguing. Not gonna respond to whatever fedora fanboy nonsense to follow.
Ubuntu holds around 30 percent of the Linux desktop market. Fedora sits around 1 to 2 percent. Ubuntu focuses on Long Term Support stability, massive community documentation, seamless hardware driver support, and minimizing breakage for new users. Fedora deliberately pushes bleeding-edge kernels, experimental libraries, and rapid changes that regularly introduce breakage. Beginners do not need the newest kernel version or experimental features. They need stability, predictability, easy troubleshooting, and access to a massive community when things go wrong. Fedora is excellent for intermediate users who know how to fix their own problems. It is irresponsible to recommend a testing ground distro to someone who is still learning how to use the terminal.
If Fedora were actually a good beginner distro, it would dominate beginner spaces like r/linux4noobs, It does not. Fedora is respected, but it is not designed for beginners. Even Fedora's own documentation assumes technical competence that a first-time Linux user will not have.
It is objectively not a good distro for beginners. Not even Fedora thinks it's a good distro for beginners. Your arguments make no sense. I certainly don't care to hear anymore of them.
Good day.
It is ok to admit you are wrong. Fedora wasn't always the project it is today and at one point it was purely for testing. I get the impression that you've either never used Fedora or haven't used it in a very long time.
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/
Not everyone needs the latest stable of everything. That's ok but I also didn't just list Fedora. It is just a option to consider if you want a up to date system that's well tested.
It is ok to admit you are wrong.
Jesus Christ, your obnoxious.
Blocked.