Are the Linux distros “Xubuntu” and “Lubuntu” as compatible with Nextcloud as Ubuntu is? Or might they cause problems, now or in the future?
To my knowledge, Xubuntu/Lubuntu are identical with Ubuntu, but uses a simpler graphical system which makes them much more lightweight. The engine under the hood should be identical - or extremely close to identical.
If my understanding is wrong, please correct me.
thanks
It doesn’t have to be a specific Linux distribution. So the one you know best, will be suitable. However, there can be a difference in the standard configuration of services, if it is focused on maximum funtionality or maximum security. For Xubuntu/Lubuntu, I don’t really know, since they focus mostly on the user interface, the rest might be prety similar.
Ubuntu has also a server version without desktop. In terms of performance and security, this might be even better.
If you mean as a server, they are the same. Ubuntu = X or L ubuntu or even K unbuntu
The missing parts are the server components.
You can install them using apt-get commands.
You simply need to follow the NC manual install like for Ubuntu server.
You will have to manually install all the LAMPS components who are missing, and manage the, using X-L-K console, or install a ssh server…
Yup, the only difference in process for an install on Xubuntu vs Ubuntu server is that you might have to disable sleep mode. Ubuntu server doesn’t have auto-sleep, but Ubuntu desktop, Xubuntu, and Lubuntu each include a power manager daemon that might do that if it has an opinion on your hardware.
Sure. But I would not recommand installing Nextcloud on a desktop computer, which you also use for other things, that you would normally use on a desktop computer, especially if you plan to expose Nextcloud to the internet. If you’re gonna install Nextcloud on a sperate machine, I would recommend using Ubuntu server https://ubuntu.com/download/server. The graphical desktop environment Xubuntu or Lubuntu provides, will not be of much use anyways, because you will not be able to avoid the command line in order to install and maintain Nextcloud.
I have several desktop computer running as linux server…
My personal one is a running non stop 24/7 for over the last 5 years… Hardware fine.
I am using “others” stuff on it without any troubles… Just reserves ressources for the server side.
Gaming is of course out of the scope.
And internet exposure is “manages” with another desktop using pfsense…
Now, headless server are “better” as they don’t consume resources for GUI’s… but, to be honest, this is not anymore a reason if you have high end hardware…
Actually, i am planning to move my main server to a supermicro hardware… still exploring my options…
@Ange.Reid
At other linux distribution there is no difference between e.g. Debian GNOME and Debian Xfce. The difference at Debian is only the meta package task-gnome-desktop vs. task-xfce-desktop. Look also task-desktop for more desktop-meta-packages.
I think Xubuntu is almost only Ubuntu without ubuntu-desktop (all versions) / task-gnome-desktop (from 22.04) and with task-xubuntu-desktop and perhaps a few hundreds different dependencies who belongs to this two meta-packages.
I think for a test system it is no problem to install Nextcloud also on a desktop linux. But for configuration server services the desktop is not really useful. You need command line commands, an editor and a file manager. All you can also or better get on a text based system (Shell, Terminal, …). Unfortunately, it is often assumed that graphics is helpful in administration. This is not the case, at least for Nextcloud. It rather serves that the learning curve is not high enough.
I was more concerned about security than wasting resources.
Then it’s of course fine. However each additional service running on a server also entails potential security risks. Therefore, as few services as possible should run on a server that is accessible from the Internet.
Yes, but a desktop environment is not of much of use on a server. Not even the graphical file manager, because it has no permissions to edit files as root or www-data. Sure you could start it as root, but then we would talk about poor the security practices again 
If you need a graphical management UI for your servers, I would recommend using something like Cockpit or maybe Webmin.