A white paper is like a Blueprint that outlines the technical details.

Not to be rude but I’m assuming you’re relatively new to Bitcoin.

In the past on-chain worked pretty well but now has become a topic of controversy.

If you know how to run Linux then both should be easy but I think there are also beginner friendly tools that help you run nodes, & operate lightning channels.

I would advise take time researching, & asking others for help to learn.

I learned a lot from asking questions on Twitter, & other crypto circles like discord, telegram, & simplex, etc.