Excuse me? Just Debian?
this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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"just" the easiest to use with all packages
I've tried them all and the only one I've been able to stick with is Yunohost. Because it handles all the reverse proxying for you and has a much larger library.
Unfortunately it doesn't come with any RAID management.
I can't comment on ZimaOS but I do use CasaOS to manage docker and it saves a lot of hassle for most things. Just being able to click the 3 dots and check for updates is worth it.
The only issue I have with CasaOS is that it doesn't have support for env files. Maybe ZimaOS fixed that. Next week I should have a HP gen9 arriving to replace my dying gen8 and looking at trying proxmox on that so might have to test ZimaOS.
Still really want to get into kubernetes but trying to get a useful tutorial that works and isn't a stupid video thats hard to follow is annoyny.
Zimaos is just casaos packaged with Debian
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| NAS | Network-Attached Storage |
| RAID | Redundant Array of Independent Disks for mass storage |
| SSO | Single Sign-On |
3 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 15 acronyms.
[Thread #992 for this comm, first seen 11th Jan 2026, 14:15] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
Not either of those but I use OpenMediaVault (which is debian based) for file serving, backups and a bunch of docker containers. Does a pretty good job of the basics but nothing beats docker/compose CLI.
OpenMediaVault is pretty rad. I run it in a VM on a ProxMox machine and it ended up doing all the Docker lifting because the GUI management is just so nice.
I do need to get more CLI-ninja with Docker eventually, but in my experience it's a very cumbersome and fiddly process.
Unless something breaks and needs more hands-on, I feel like OpenMediaVault's container interface completely replaces Portainer and smooths the on-ramp for newbie self-hosters.
I have been using casaos and sincerely it is great as a simple solution to avoid some hassles. On the other hand if you are already handling those things yourself and are fine with it, it might have less value.
I am considering some changes and now I am finding out that maybe having a backup of the configuration to set it up again later is not something I can get in casaos.
Is ZimaOS even worth considering if is not Open Source?
For me personally this is a key aspect. I would avoid any proprietary solution, or you will be left in a position where you have no control of your data. I definitely won't be checking zimaOS.
Instead I want to check and maybe try yunohost or freedombox.
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.