Yeah, I think you’re right, it’s often not intentional gatekeeping. Totally understandable, especially when people have seen the same beginner questions a hundred times before.

But that raises another question: if beginners can’t easily ask for help, where can they turn to safely learn the basics?

Does everyone really have to go through the same painful trial-and-error process alone? Of course, there’s a certain beauty in figuring things out the hard way, that’s how many of us learned, but it could be easier. Maybe there’s room for a solution, a tool or an approach that helps beginners understand what’s happening under the hood, while also taking some of the burden off advanced users who just want things to work smoothly or recover quickly when something goes wrong.

You’re right, a certain level of knowledge is essential for safe self-hosting.

The goal isn’t to remove that responsibility, but to lower the initial barrier so people can start learning in a safer, more guided way.

And yes, we’re currently in the testing and feedback phase, so conversations like this are valuable. I’m also interested in hearing broader perspectives from people involved in self-hosting, not just those testing the project.