My ultimate goal with learning this is I want to self host my own Monero node and eventually maybe even self host emails and after that learn docker as well.
But I am a long, long way from there.
Where do I start with something like this if I have no experience with networking?
Should I just start with learning a VPS? I just don't like the idea of me not being able to physically control the server because I think one day Monero might be outlawed or something.
My experience has taught me not to 'apt autoremove' unless im really sure what they are!
Take it one software at a time. See it's running fine then move on to another. You'll often realise something down the line will be helpful so will go back to make changes.
Keep a running list of software and the ports used.
With docker, do not automatically do :latest on important software (nginx proxy manager, SSO software, password database, anything you use regularly, etc). I did that and was burned a few times.
Also that at some point you'll either mess up or realise it would just be easier and start again with a fresh OS install. Keep copying data (docker compose files and persistent storage) on working software before starting a new one, or before installing anything directly onto the OS, or before major updates.