In my limited experience, there are basically two flavors of Linux:
- Latest software, everything’s available but it breaks a lot.
- Doesn’t update frequently, might have to be cautious with third-party software but very stable.
As I’ve gotten busier, my preference for stable distros like Debian has grown. I think there’s also a lot of value in trying for due diligence the first time you install a distro. It’s much simpler to take the time and do it correctly than to try and fix it afterwards. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to get everything set up correctly, but it’s worth it long term.
I tried self hosting from my apartment for several years. Never anything ambitious, but even so, keeping the site reachable consistently was a problem. It’s not impossible. You would need a dynamic DNS service. Some are free. Even with everything set up correctly, expect done downtime. I eventually switched to a virtual server, so I’m paying $7.50/month for 1 GB RAM, 1 TB bandwidth and 120 GB disk space. Reachable all the time with no issues now, though.