I expose homeasssistant via nginx. I run snort and I can assure you I am constantly getting hits. I haven’t tuned it much, so I’m sure there’s false positives in there but I’m equally sure there’s false negatives.

If you can’t figure out how to set up docker, set up a reverse proxy, check and configure TLS, you definitely aren’t ready for self hosting. It’s a highly technical exercise and one bad move will make your Internet connection part of a botnet. (Arguably, you don’t even need to be self hosting for that, but there’s no point in making it easy).

I believe it’s never been easier to set up a home server. I set up Tailscale in between sips of coffee one day and my mind (as an almost-grizzled sysadmin) was blown. My non technical family members can set up a VPN in 10 minutes. It’s a terrible security practice, but there’s pipe-to-bash scripts everywhere now that get things set up and running in minutes. You want Homeassistant container on proxmox? Burn the proxmox image to a usb, boot and install, then run this command. Boom. Homeassistant in a container. Let’s do pihole - another script and we’re done.

It’s ludicrously easy to get going compared to even 10 years ago.

Yes, when you want to change a setting, or configure it for local use, it’s more complicated. But that’s the way it’s always been, and that’s how I learn - follow the cookbook, and then realize you need to change this piece, which requires understanding that piece, and there you go.