Translations:Welcome to Plebnet/23/en

The answer to this question is... it's a moving bar. It also depends on what kind of node you want to operate, what amount of funds you have, and who you want to connect to. I think there are ~3 broad categories of nodes in the lightning network

1. Profitable routing nodes: those that require a lot of management, capital, and skill
2. Middle ground nodes: a less defined group, nodes with a handful of decent-sized channels, good peers, and are great for supporting and expanding the network
3. Personal use nodes: nodes for people who want to have 1-2 good connections, the experience of understanding lightning and node running, and the ability to route personal transactions in or out of their node.