Over the past few months, I embarked on a rewarding digital journey to move away from US big tech and towards more European [EU], open source [FOSS], privacy-oriented [P], and decentralized [D] alternatives.

I’m sharing my experience here in case it can be useful to others, as well as to gather any additional thoughts or suggestions:

  • Desktop OS: Microsoft Windows 11 --> OpenSUSE Tumbleweed + KDE [EU][FOSS]
  • Web browser: Google Chrome --> Brave --> Vivaldi --> Mozilla Firefox + Strict privacy settings, uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, Conset-O-Matic [FOSS][P]
  • Email: Gmail --> Infomaniak Mail [EU][FOSS]
  • Calendar: Google Calendar --> Infomaniak Calendar [EU][FOSS] + OneCalendar [EU]
  • Files: Dropbox --> Infomaniak kDrive [EU][FOSS]
  • Photos: Google Photos --> Infomaniak kDrive [EU][FOSS]
  • Notes: Google Keep --> Notesnook [FOSS][P]
  • Social Media:
    • Facebook --> Nothing
    • Twitter/X --> Mastodon (mas.to) [EU][FOSS][D]
    • Reddit --> Lemmy (lemm.ee) [EU][FOSS][D]
  • AI Chatbot: OpenAI ChatGPT --> Mistral AI Le Chat [EU]
  • Videos: Youtube --> Unwatched [EU][FOSS][P]
  • Podcasts: Apple Podcasts --> Spotify --> Pocket Casts [FOSS]
  • Translate: Google Translate --> DeepL [EU]
  • Maps: Google Maps --> Organic Maps [EU][FOSS][P]
  • Weather: Apple Weather --> YR [EU]
  • Online payments: PayPal --> Revolut [EU]
  • Password manager: LastPass --> Mozilla Firefox --> Bitwarden [FOSS][P]
  • Online shopping: Amazon --> Cdiscount [EU]
  • Travel booking: Booking.com --> Direct booking

And here’s the list of things I couldn’t let go of:

  • Mobile OS: iOS | I have a business iPhone which is also my personal phone
  • Messaging: WhatsApp | The network effect is too big here: family, friends, local businesses, etc
  • Streaming services: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ | These come basically for free with my ISP and are too convenient for the moment (esp. w/ kids)
  • Baron von Fajita@infosec.pub
    6·
    3 days ago

    Thanks for posting this! As an American who dislikes the big tech here, these are helpful in knowing what’s beyond our borders. I had never heard of Infomaniak before you posted! I currently use Proton but I’m not happy with the ability of their calendar and contacts to integrate with my underlying system. I’ve also been looking at mailbox.org to expand my capabilities there.