I highly recommend Ubuntu Desktop for homelab stuff.

I recently set up my self-hosted system and went down this path:
Ubuntu Server - decided against it because terminal only is tedious sometimes
Ubuntu Desktop - easy, popular (so more documentation), comes ready with Docker
Decided to use Yacht for my container manager and have been happy with it so far, super simple compared to other options out there but you still have the control you need

current containers:

• Home Assistant to unify all smart home gadgets
• Nginx Proxy Manager to create secure reverse proxies so some services are available to the internet for remote use
• Photoprism for all my photo / personal video management
• Plex to serve my media
• Dashy a dashboard for all your services? I still need to learn and play with this one
• Firefly III a personal finance tool, hard to configure but seems super useful once everything is set up and imported. still learning this one too
• Minecraft Server

I definitely want to add to this list. I want to get some stuff behind a VPN and sail the open seas to fill out my plex server, I just want to make sure I am being as safe as possible.