“Easier“, no. Not for the average person on the street.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve built several NAS over the years (dropped OMV for just Arch and the packages I want) and loaded OpenWRT (etc) on routers
But, building my own NAS, servicing my own car, repairing my own house, felling my own trees, at some point I’ll just lack knowledge and buy something simple / pay someone to do it… and that’s where cheap consumer electronics fits (unfortunately)
“Easier“, no. Not for the average person on the street.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve built several NAS over the years (dropped OMV for just Arch and the packages I want) and loaded OpenWRT (etc) on routers
But, building my own NAS, servicing my own car, repairing my own house, felling my own trees, at some point I’ll just lack knowledge and buy something simple / pay someone to do it… and that’s where cheap consumer electronics fits (unfortunately)