Hey, I appreciate your openness. Self-hosting is a really deep and wide domain to get into and that is really intimidating. If I may give my two cents, being a geek is about the love and interest in something, not your skill with it. The fact you know what a bash script is, let alone can write one, means you’re more aware of this space than most folks

If you’re comfortable using and supporting paid services, I think that’s great! It supports the broader ecosystem and that’s a good thing

But if this is a space you want to tinker with, I think you should try a small project. The security concerns I mentioned are basically zero if you only host something on your home network. Grab an old computer and try running something like Jellyfin (or something else you’re interested in) on it with Docker. Things wont go perfectly, but that’s OK, it’s a learning experience. Keep at it till you get it working. If you like the experience, try more things. If not, great, you’ve scratched an itch and it’s no longer there

Regardless, appreciate your kind words and sharing your perspective!