It's kind of hard to explain, and probably part of why I struggled so much is I felt like I couldn't articulate what I was struggling with. Some of it was super basic and I felt like an idiot once I realized it. A lot of it was probably right in the middle of the front page, but somehow I missed it. It took me far too long to realize that DAppNode was really a server that I had to connect to through another computer. I had a bunch of errors that I had to solve by looking through Google. There was an error when using the Terminal in Ubuntu to install it. Every time I used the script, it had an error and erased my wifi. I had to re-install the whole OS three times and that set the discouraging tone for the rest of the day. I ended up using the ISO method which I didn't realize was a viable option until I read way further in the tutorial. The system also asked for login credentials that I didn't have once I set it up. Turns out it was login: dappnode and pw: dappnode.s0 but I had to do a lot of looking to find that on the tech support boards.
Otherwise, I often felt like I had to do a ton of research to even know what I'm looking at on screen. That, on it's own, isn't that big of a deal, but it can be a real struggle when the system UI is constantly updated so the guides often don't look like what I'm seeing. I remember once someone on reddit commenting (on a totally unrelated issue) "Why do I have to follow this company on Twitter to learn about a new security issue" or something like that. That's kind of what I mean by the strength and weakness of our communities. A lot of crypto companies do so much through these social media companies, but it feels very strange to me. I think I kinda feel that way about going to Reddit, Discord, or other social media to learn how to use something.
Finally, and this might simply be way too much to ask, but I think having more of an internal guide would be extremely helpful. Like, in old video games you read the manual and then you played the game. Now we have walk-through tutorials that are imbedded in the game itself.
I'll admit, I feel like a total tool even complaining about any of this though. They provided this free service and, thanks to their work, I actually have a shot of pulling this off. I'm extremely grateful and I feel like most of my complaints are probably things I just missed.