If you go the full Linux desktop route, I recommend installing a hypervisor like proxmox to make it easy to spin up and manage VM's and containers off the bare metal.
A lot more work to setup than a NAS like Synology, but having some more control over the setup and tailoring it to your needs makes it worth it imo.
Thanks for the tip, i didn’t actually 100% understand what proxmox was until you said that it is a hypervisor.
I have a NUC that I accidentally stole from my last job that may become my hobby PC. I will probably try a distro on bare metal to get my feet wet but then take it to there. Or maybe a USB distro to start? I haven’t put much thought into it yet.
I have a Synology NAS too but YSK they’re an absolute shit company who only does well because they’re the only game in town. They used to be great but they’ve started doing some questionable things in recent years with “official” drives and their customer service is SO bad.