My advice, skip the TrueNAS and go straight to FreeBSD. It's a simple operating system to maintain and it requires minimal setup to use as a NAS.

As someone who tried TrueNAS at first, but prefers declarative reproducible configuration, do give NixOS a try. Best NAS base-OS I've tried so far, and when it was time to migrate to new hardware, I just switched the disks, re-ran the config and was up and running in no-time.

Ok, sounds complicated compared to a basic FreeBSD install.

I dont think its much more or less complicated, just depends on which one you're more familiar with.

TrueNAS has migrated away from FreeBSD, current versions are now exclusively Linux-based.

I think this is a valid approach, especially for the audience of Hackernews.

But I'd be a bit worried about the availability of drivers for much of the hardware found on this particular motherboard.

This is what I recommend too, but for those who want something prepackaged, there's also XigmaNAS, basically a lightweight UI layer and basic configuration on top of FreeBSD. Some of the original FreeNAS developers have been working on the project for almost 20 years.

It's great for people who just want storage and don't want the heavy features that came with TrueNAS' move to Linux (Kubernetes, etc.) or who want full control over vfs_fruit options for serving Macs.

Is this rage bait?

"Just skip owning a car, just buy a nice pair of Adidas, they're easy to clean and don't cost much."

???

Sorry but this is a deeply flawed analogy.

TrueNAS isn't even FreeBSD any more, it's Linux based now sadly

Then migrate straight to Linux

I really didn't want to setup and admin my own Unix system when I was building my NAS, and TrueNAS made the software side trivial. It's basically plug-and-play and almost entirely configurable from the web interface. Why complicate your life needlessly?