K3s

Kubernetes shows up in homelab conversations constantly, usually right after someone says “I want to get better at this for work.” That’s a legitimate reason to run it. What’s less legitimate is the assumption that Kubernetes is a natural next step up from Docker Compose the way Compose was a natural next step up from a pile of docker run commands. It isn’t. Compose and Kubernetes solve overlapping problems with very different amounts of machinery, and for a huge share of homelab workloads, Compose (or a UI on top of it, like Portainer or Dockge) is simply the correct tool, not a beginner’s tool you’re supposed to graduate out of. This is about when a lightweight Kubernetes distribution actually pays for itself at home, and when it’s complexity you’re taking on for its own sake. ...