More devs are spinning up Kubernetes clusters on stripped-down Linux distros—think Raspberry Pi OS, Debian, Talos Linux, Fedora CoreOS. MicroK8s and k3s make low-power, ARM-first deployments feel less like a science project.
Talos Linux? It’s the wildcard—API-only node ops and an immutable, locked-down design that feels made for tinkerers with trust issues.
For the VM crowd, Harvester + Rancher brings a more buttoned-up setup to home labs. Still K8s. Still fun. Just... shinier.
