First connection to new Start9 server. I got this i7 1TB mini PC off Amazon a while ago and ran a node on Umbrel for a while. Just dropped a new 2TB in it and got StartOS server going. Excited to explore the world of sovereign computing! 
Discussion
Very cool. Would love to hear your experience over time vs umbrel. Recent umbrel release broke nextcloud, had to do some not insignificant plumbing to restore it.
I had a really hard time with Umbrel other than running a functional Bitcoin node for many months. And it’s funny, now that I am finally set up with StartOS, the main reason for wanting to switch to StartOS (getting a Lightning node up) has been replaced by other aspirations. I just don’t have enough BTC to risk to be fucking around with potentially having assets hung on forced closes etc. Who knows, maybe $1000-$2000 of liquidity won’t be a big deal soon, and it’ll be worthwhile. Perhaps I’ll change my mind later, but it just seems so complicated right now. The main goal I was trying to get to was to be able to assist local merchants in using Lightning as part of their point of sale solution, but I have a lot to learn.
Well it's been a fairly awesome experience with a DIY Start9 server so far. I'm so glad I was able to put a replacement 2TB SSD in this 1TB i7 32GB mini PC I got off Amazon, without any problems. Got a full Bitcoin node up, my watch only wallets connecting through my own node, set up File Browser so I can safely host files I might need on the road from both my phone and my laptop, and am connecting to Nostr remotely through Iris as I type now on my server. Now I just have to start with a small amount of sats for testing and learning the ropes to get a Lightning node and BTCPay Server up. I need to learn the ins and outs and the risks before I risk anything more than I am willing to lose if something weird happens to my channels. Lightning kind of feels like the wild west to me right now. Anyone that has any good resources or insights that will assist in not getting rekt on my Lightning implementation would be handy. I have a feeling I am going to be watching a lot of @btcsessions tutorials this weekend.