Hi David
I use Synology NAS a lot, and I’m quite happy with them!
But I use them as NAS, period!
I don’t want the clunky DNS Server, nor their AD. In fact there are a lot of usuable Linux Stuff available in Synology.
But:
A lot of the stuff is quite dated, eg. Python. Sure you can install eg Docker & Home Assistant on Synology - but you get stuck with a VERY old Home Assistant setup!
And a lot of their Open Source “Projects” or Plug Ins are really terribly documented. Example: DICOM, an Image Storage for hospitals and doctors (DICOM is a worldwide standard in medical stuff, X-Rays and Ultrasonic among others).
I have a couple of doctors as clients, and DICOM Storage would be useful in their case. And it’s not that I can’t handle DICOM stuff, I’ve setup a couple of Macs to do the job, (using Horos), and they work well now for years…
The usual NAS stuff works well, so does disk management. And some Home Media features work well too.
But, a lot of linux stuff is just badly dated!
My 2 cents
Andy