A good example of that is the guys on r/homelab explaining how they built a NAS so their wife could save her phone media without Google Photos.

Man, paying Google/Apple $5/mo is surely a much better solution for her. And are you really doing 3-2-1 on that?

Save the dicking around for your own stuff.

I actually really like not having to worry if some licensing deal means my access to music I love gets shut off.

Isn't responsibility the trade off for independence?

You can't have one without the other.