this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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Selfhosted

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What is Docker? (lemmy.world)
submitted 8 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

Hi! Im new to self hosting. Currently i am running a Jellyfin server on an old laptop. I am very curious to host other things in the future like immich or other services. I see a lot of mention of a program called docker.

search this on The internet I am still Not very clear what it does.

Could someone explain this to me like im stupid? What does it do and why would I need it?

Also what are other services that might be interesting to self host in The future?

Many thanks!

EDIT: Wow! thanks for all the detailed and super quick replies! I've been reading all the comments here and am concluding that (even though I am currently running only one service) it might be interesting to start using Docker to run all (future) services seperately on the server!

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago (3 children)

I've never posted on Lemmy before. I tried to ask this question of the greater community but I had to pick a community and didn't know which one. This shows up as lemmy.world but that wasn't an option.

Anyway, what I wanted to know is why do people self host? What is the advantage/cost. Sorry if I'm hijacking. Maybe someone could just post a link or something.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 hour ago

Anyway, what I wanted to know is why do people self host?

Wow. That's a whole separate thread on it's on. I selfhost a lot of my services because I am a staunch privacy advocate, and I really have a problem with corporations using my data to further bolster their profit margins without giving me due compensation. I also self host because I love to tinker and learn. The learning aspect is something I really get in to. At my age it is good to keep the brain active and so I self host, create bonsai, garden, etc. I've always been into technology from the early days of thumbing through Pop Sci and Pop Mech magazines, which evolved into thumbing through Byte mags.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

It usually comes down to privacy and independence from big tech, but there are a ton of other reasons you might want to do it. Here are some more:

  • preservation - no longer have to care if Google kills another service
  • cost - over time, Jellyfin could be cheaper than a Netflix sub
  • speed - copying data on your network is faster than to the internet
  • hobby - DIY is fun for a lot of people

For me, it's a mix of several of reasons.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 46 minutes ago

Yeah, 100% a whole separate post on its own. If you ask the same question in a new post, you'll get more visibility and more answers