You don't need a separate computer for a Bitcoin node, you can just install Bitcoin core on whatever computer you already have.
The benefit is you are fully sovereign and don't depend on anyone else's computer to validate and broadcast transactions and improve your privacy (another node doesn't see your xpub)
You don't need umbrels or start9s etc
Bitcoin doesn't require crazy setups to get started. A local core node and Sparrow go a long way.
Realized this on my own last month. Pruned node, sure, but I take what I can get.
I use pruned nodes too, totally fine
The only issue I might have is that my earlier UTXOs are older than my prune. Hasn’t been a problem yet. Easily fixable.
How's lightning on pruned nodes? I saw sometime ago it's a no go and I've never bothered to check again
I have no experience there.
You can run lightning with 40gb of pruning, but if you ever need to rescan the wallet, your node could be down for days, which could lead to force closures. If you just use the node for small amounts of sending/receiving and only a few channels, I think it's mostly fine
It is simply memory and storage allocation as well as most people preferring to turn off, suspend or hibernate their PCs over night. You don't NEED a home server for DNS, PiHole, Jellyfin, or Data storage either but always on is better for those applied services.
Can you run a test net node on the same computer or does it double the block chain size?
Is there a solution for us Mac users (don’t shoot me) https://media1.giphy.com/media/twpYnBnUobHRm/200w.webp?cid=4ea4f8d5mp8ti29zqo4jcgoqptnlkyk21yh0nx4fxrrdktxd&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200w.webp&ct=g
NixOS?
