After today’s Homelab init and QCA it has become clear that even though there are easier ways to get to a Linux command line, the importance of knowing how to install Linux on bare-metal hardware is worth the time and hassle. Without this base ability, all the other Linux skills one acquires during the boost are limited to creating virtual machines and working in the cloud. While this is also essential learning, it is secondary to learning to deal with Linux on-prem in a home lab. Plus, this sets the ground-work for building a more robust home lab network of systems later, including the hassles of doing so that are only learned by dealing with actual hardware, like BIOS manipulation, burning USB images, mounting storage, and setting up a home network safely.