Homebase

Open-source home server OS — simple enough for everyone.

Turn any x86 PC into a powerful, self-hosted home server with an app-store experience. No terminal skills required.

Vision

People are tired of big companies knowing everything about them. Synology NAS comes close to solving this, but it's expensive and still too complicated for most people.

Homebase aims to be:

• As easy to install as Windows — boot from USB, click through a wizard, done
• As easy to use as an app store — want Nextcloud? Click install, pick a name, wait a few minutes, and you have nextcloud.yourdomain.de
• Container-based — everything runs in Docker, with sensible default configs
• Built for normal people — your dad should be able to run his own cloud server
• Fully open source — with an optional support/infrastructure subscription (Proxmox model)

Architecture

+------------------+
|   Web UI         |  <- Simple admin panel / app store
+------------------+
|   Service Layer  |  <- Docker compose orchestration, default configs
+------------------+
|   Gateway        |  <- Reverse proxy, SSL, DNS (self-hosted or managed)
+------------------+
|   Base OS        |  <- Minimal Linux (Arch or Debian TBD)
+------------------+
|   Any x86 HW     |  <- Old PC, mini PC, NUC, whatever
+------------------+

Key Decisions

Decision	Status	Notes
Base OS	TBD	Arch (more control, CachyOS-style) vs Debian (Proxmox ecosystem, FAI for images)
Containers	Docker	Lower overhead than VMs, easier default configs
Installation	Web-based wizard	Robert has a webapp prototype that reads devices and saves form data to JSON
Gateway	Flexible	Own reverse proxy OR managed through our infrastructure
UI approach	UI-first	Design the simplest possible UI, then build everything to match

Inspiration

• Azure Local — cluster management for enterprises, we want this for home users
• Proxmox community-scripts — great base, but VM-focused (more overhead)
• Synology DSM — closest to our UX goal, but proprietary and expensive
• Home Assistant — app-store model for smart home, we want this for all services

Roadmap

• UI mockups / drafts (Robert)
• Base OS decision (Arch vs Debian)
• Installer prototype (web-based wizard)
• First containerized service (Nextcloud?)
• Gateway / reverse proxy setup
• Custom OS image build pipeline

Team

• Robert — Architecture, UI design, webapp installer prototype
• Daniel — Infrastructure, testing, DevOps

License

AGPL-3.0 — open source, community-driven.