konem

You pretty much have four options, ranging from fully local to network level to VPN to public.

1.) Good old hosts file. Pro: Easy on linux. Cons: Doesn’t automatically update, needs to be installed manually on each device, some devices (phones) are harder to setup.

2.) Set DNS records using your router to your local ip, or if it does not support adding DNS records, then use a service like pi hole as your DNS server. Even external DNS providers like Adguard or Cloudflare should work, if you register with an account. You should be able to set up a DNS record for each subdomain, or do something like *.myhost.internal to catch all subdomains. Using the .internal TLD is highly recommended in this setup. Pros: Simple to set up, the router should inform all devices about the changes in DNS. Cons: To get rid of SSL warnings you will need to install the Caddy Root Certificate as a trusted agent on each device.

3.) Use a service like tailscale or netbird that offers automatic DNS and allows you to bind services (ports) to domain names. Pro: Allows access from anywhere. Cons: Needs to be installed on every device accessing it.

4.) Setting up a public DNS with a private IP address. Makes things a lot more complicated if you want to use let’s encrypt. Will need to do something like split dns and has to expose the port for the ACME challenge.

Instead of using let’s encrypt, you may again install the Root Certificates like in step 2 on every device to reduce the complexity by a good amount. Beware that binding public DNS to local IPs is considered bad practice, as it allows for DNS rebinding attacks. Some browsers and devices will complain (unless you use a .internal domain, but these can’t be registered publicly). Pro: If done properly, then, in principle, it should work on any device without setup. Cons: The hardest way of setting things up. Need to open up the network to allow automatic SSL certification. Some devices see this as a security threat.

If you decide on one of these paths, it is easier to recommend a guide for a specific setup. I feel like your question is mixing up some of these options. I’d also be happy to answer questions on anything but 4.

I bought a Tuxedo Polaris (Clevo) in 2020 for work.
The display backlighting was somewhat uneven from the start. The keyboard print rubbed off quickly, the rest of the laptop kept being mostly ok for 5 years, except for a dent or two. It also encased the first SSD that I’ve ever had die, possibly due to excess heat. It’s not high quality, but not flimsy either. Most colleagues had macs or dells, and they were in a significantly better shape after that time. I’d say that the clevo, in terms of build quality, is a bit below Lenovo, even though it actually used a metal chassis instead of plastic.

That being said, I feel the software support for buying a new mainstream laptop is better than what I’ve gotten from Tuxedo. Of course, the nvidia card was a problem (no suspend for half a year, after that it worked… rarely), but even the RGB keyboard did not have a driver until a couple of years after launch. TuxedoOS was Ubuntu and highly opinionated in wanting KDE, but the custom tuxedo fixes were not readily available in any other distro. Given that the selling point was the Linux support, I’ve felt that even essential drivers were updated way too late. Tuxedoos switched to Debian recently, so maybe it will be better, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. In conclusion, I couldn’t really justify paying the premium for Linux support anymore. Community support of mainstream vendors seems way better than what these small companies can offer for niche products.

I now have a Lenovo with Cachy and it’s been working great from day one, only needed to reload the Bluetooth module at times. Also don’t need to wait months until driver updates arrive. Even suspend works fine now with Intel and Nvidia.