Mischa van den Burg

An experienced homelabber advises beginners against starting with Proxmox, arguing it adds unnecessary complexity and friction early in the learning journey. Instead, installing Ubuntu or Ubuntu Server directly on bare metal hardware is recommended as the fastest path to hands-on Linux and Docker experience, with no performance overhead from virtualization. The core argument is that momentum matters for beginners, and getting stuck on Proxmox setup details like static IP configuration can derail learning before it really starts.

Aspiring DevOps engineers: I don't recommend using Proxmox when you're just starting out.

Proxmox definitely has a place in a home lab, but I can explain the reason why I don't include it in the beginner courses or the home lab method that I teach.

There is already enough to learn in the beginning, and the most important thing is to get access to a linux command line as soon as possible, on a machine where you can break stuff.
Setting up Proxmox is not that difficult with a tutorial, but it does require you to set a static IP on the machine for example, (at least, every time I did it I had to do this) and this alone can be very confusing if you are a beginner.

Next there is also a performance loss when you start virtualizing, especially on older hardware.

If you install Ubuntu or Ubuntu server on a laptop, you can run Docker directly on there without needing any desktop clients or anything. That's the best way to learn, and no performance loss. A VM is not needed to learn docker on Linux
I think you can come very far without ever needing to start a virtual machine if you stick to bare metal in the beginning, and I think it has the least friction when you start.

Because when someone joins here, is all excited, and then gets frustrated in the first 2 days because they are stuck with Proxmox, then there is a higher chance that they will lose momentum and stop learning so much.

Of course you should follow your own way and do what interests you, i am just sharing the reason why I don't include it in the beginning.

For context, i've been homelabbing for years now, and literally yesterday I set up my first proper proxmox machine, and my first proxmox install was 6 months ago (but i abandoned it then)

<p>Aspiring DevOps engineers: I don't recommend using Proxmox when you're just starting out.

Proxmox definitely has a place in a home lab, but I can explain the reason why I don't include it in the beginner courses or the home lab method that I teach.

There is already enough to learn in the beginning, and the most important thing is to get access to a linux command line as soon as possible, on a machine where you can break stuff.
Setting up Proxmox is not that difficult with a tutorial, but it does require you to set a static IP on the machine for example, (at least, every time I did it I had to do this) and this alone can be very confusing if you are a beginner.

Next there is also a performance loss when you start virtualizing, especially on older hardware.

If you install Ubuntu or Ubuntu server on a laptop, you can run Docker directly on there without needing any desktop clients or anything. That's the best way to learn, and no performance loss. A VM is not needed to learn docker on Linux
I think you can come very far without ever needing to start a virtual machine if you stick to bare metal in the beginning, and I think it has the least friction when you start.

Because when someone joins here, is all excited, and then gets frustrated in the first 2 days because they are stuck with Proxmox, then there is a higher chance that they will lose momentum and stop learning so much.

Of course you should follow your own way and do what interests you, i am just sharing the reason why I don't include it in the beginning.

For context, i've been homelabbing for years now, and literally yesterday I set up my first proper proxmox machine, and my first proxmox install was 6 months ago (but i abandoned it then)</p>

A tweet advising aspiring DevOps engineers against starting with Proxmox, suggesting it may not be the best entry point for beginners despite having its place in more advanced setups.