When I switched to Immich, I thought I was going to give up a lot for the sake of self hosting. To my surprise, it’s actually better than anything I’ve used from Apple or Google. Unicorns exist, they are just rare.
The Immich "Quick Start" step 1 is mkdir and wget commands. Step 2 is "Populate the .env file with custom values"
I get it, when the prerequisites are 1) run a server and 2) have Docker installed, but this isn't inspiring confidence that local-first apps will become popular.
Self-hosted services and local-first apps are distinct topics. Local-first is about keeping data on clients- orchestrated via a centralized or distributed system. Usually it means installing an app that works offline, and might sync to desktop. Self-hosting is about running servers in owned or rented infrastructure, and that is never a turnkey proposition.
