Maybe if the model trains could actually bring in your groceries and mow your lawn they’d be comparable. Granted, self-hosted software can’t do those exact things either, but it can do an awful lot of the digital stuff that’s part of our lives now which often takes up just as much time and effort if not more. Model trains are a banger hobby, but homelabbing can easily be more than just a hobby, it’s deeply practical too, and I’d argue it’s actually a necessity for establishing personal digital sovereignty and privacy going forward.