Yash Patel

I’ve been trying to reduce how much I rely on Google services, so at one point I decided to ditch Google Maps too. I figured there were enough Google Maps alternatives now that I wouldn’t miss it much. After all, I only needed an app to get me from one place to another. That turned out to be a little too optimistic. Once I stopped opening Google Maps, I started noticing how many things I had taken for granted.

Self-hosting gives me something I don't get with most mainstream software: control. I can choose where my data lives, decide which services run on my hardware, and build a setup around the way I actually work. That freedom is a big reason I keep coming back to it. But the more time I spend self-hosting, the more complicated the ecosystem starts to feel. There are countless applications, containers, and alternatives competing for attention. Finding a tool is easy.

I’ve been experimenting with local AI models for more than a year now, and I’ve tried quite a few along the way. Over time, I realized I don’t need one model to handle everything. Different models work better for different tasks, and I’ve found myself returning to the same few again and again. My current setup isn’t about installing the most models. It’s about keeping the ones that I actually find useful.