Self-hosting Addiction

So a few months back, I came across a subreddit that changed my hobby. Well technically not changed, but kinda shifted a bit. In r/selfhosted I found so much interesting apps and tools that you can install on you own server. Ranging from digital utility, such as photo and document management, productivity apps, note taking apps, to a recipe app.

These people use mainly open-source app and use their own servers, usually a home physical server or sometimes few just take advantage from convenience of cloud. Some still manage their VPS, and some prefer one-click setup that will deploy their app. I was amazed to see this community. Especially the contributors, the ones who make apps. Those who make high quality open-source apps are truly commendable and makes me want to give back to the community by creating some tools/apps myself.

I then remember having a laptop I didn't use anymore. The laptop had a decent amount of RAM (16GB) and lot of storage. After browsing the sub and I fire up the laptop and install Ubuntu server on it and install bunch of apps I didn't need just because they look cool. Who am I to resist those cool looking apps and endless list of features? I ran through every "must-haves" and install the one I'm interested in. People in the sub are making beautiful dashboard. I really wanted to make one too. So I installed 3 'homepage' dashboard, 2 system monitoring dashboard, and 1 service status page.