Intro: Why a home lab?

The internet sucks ass in 2026. Advertisements everywhere, mass surveillance, propaghanda galore, unfun retards everywhere, etc. I don’t wanna be mind-controlled. I wanna have fun! I wanna BE fun! I think about fun, therefore I AM FUN!

I want to:

• be able to say “retard” as much as I want - also other naughty things
• own what I buy and steal
• do what I want
• do everything I want
• reuse my sweet, old, grampa Thinkpad

Home Lab n00b

When I started this project, I knew NOTHING about how servers work. The internet is a series of tubes…

But I wasn’t intimidated because there are no consequences if I fail. GIVING UP IS FINE!!

This attitude makes doing HARD things EASY! “Nothing matters” -Carles

Process

The entire process was just looking up instructions and following them. I simply just looked it up. If I got stuck, I cheated with AI.

This process works for literally anything.

Recommendations:

• Don’t use Google - use a search engine that actually gives you information and not advertisements
• Buy second-hand - the world has enough shit in it
• Choose open source - someone made it for you to use. they are so nice!
• Remember that you are smarter than the AI - don’t believe the hype
• Remember that no one is watching and no one cares

Setup

Hardware

• Sweet, gentle, giving, kind, trustworthy, reliable, old Thinkpad - with Debian
• An ethernet cable i had in a box of cables
• Some “healthy” external SSDs

I host this website there

• It’s an Astro blog
• I use Coolify to self-host

I made my own streaming service for my movies/music

• Jellyfin
• Tailscale

Conclusion - fun analysis

Having a home lab is FUN AS FUCK!!

• made me feel smart
• made me feel resourceful
• the result is fun to use
• gained independence from tech giants who profit off people’s mental un-wellness
• disproved the gate-keepers