This is a great summary.
I would like to propose a 3rd type of user (like myself):
(a) Someone who WANTS to use one-click installl apps like (1) but is FORCED to use Stux’s helpful jaillmaker / dockge backdoor system because a lot of the Apps are straight broken as listed on the catalog. This is TRUENAS appps and not Truecharts. Believe me I would LOVE to use everything as vanilla state one click but a lot of them just do not install correctly if at all. AND my install of Truenas is 100% identical to the IX official how-to almost down to the users, groups, storage, dataset names, etc. so I know I am not alone.
I got it working (thanks to Stux) but for example Omada, Photoprism, Nginx, vaultwarden, etc. can only be used via docker at this time.
Not the fault of IX or Truecharts, but the public “word on the street” pitch for Truenas is precisely its nice easy GUI, helpful youtube videos, and one click application featureset.
I’m pretty much Dragonscale till I die mindset now, because I don’t want to have to learn how to install plexmedia server via docker compose, etc. Its not rocket science I know but its not easy either. For example, I googled for a while and couldnt find a single 95% complete .yml file to install plex pass media server install that didn’t give me incessant “curl plex token url not correct format, etc.” BS, etc. The Truenas application for PlexMediaServer just werks easy peasy out of the box. The plex server claim token works first time. No sweat at all. 2 minute install time TOPS.
I will miss this when Dragonscale is discontinued (hopefully many years from now) when I eventually will be forced into the “install plex media server your own way!!” with cryptic, autistic trial and error unix permission games along the way. I still am bitter that for an older version of plexmediaserver I had to go in and manually give ownership of the plex software folder it created itself(!) to plex after it installed just to get it working.
This stuff is probably childs play to Tyler, but its a PITA to someone in my situation, and most software users in general.
I never understood why linux / unix software almost always defaults to a broken install state, and can’t be assigned from the get go to a reasonable best practice vanilla state by the devs. Imagine if Apple and Microsoft tried that? Here’s your new iOS, but get what, you can’t get it working yet because you have to trawl through numerous forums for dicreet inside-baseball fixes first to prove you are an advanced user worthy of using it!