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)

Someone setup a custom domain with email through Google workspace and for a number of reasons I'm looking to transfer it to a different provider/host.

I'm not familiar with how all of this works and so I'm looking for help/second pair of eyes to verify my thought process so I don't pay for something that isn't going to work.

Below is the information that may be helpful:

• Domain Ending: .com
• Domain Registrar: Squarespace Domains II LLC
• Account Age: 1 year 4 months
• Expiration: January 2026
• DNSSEC: signedDelegation (not sure it's purpose but seems to be important for transferring the domain)

Things I'm looking for in replacement:

• European (non-US)
• Custom Email: 1 user currently, option to add more later
• Keep custom domain/transfer custom domain
• Low Cost
• Nice to Have: Potential for web hosting in the future (not deal breaker)

Potential new hoster: Hostinger

• Lithuania, EU
• Cheap
• Has email service
• Seems to be able to transfer domain from workspace

I'm guessing my way through this and have no real idea what I'm doing, so would greatly appreciate it if someone could verify that I can transfer the google workspace domain and that I will keep the custom domain and email.

Also, how I would go about accessing the email once it's not on gmail (Thunderbird? other options?). Any feedback on the suggested new domain or alternative would also be valuable.

Please let me know if you need more information and thanks for looking at the post :)

I'd want to split them up so I can let the mails that go to @mailbox.org, be received by a different inbox than my custom domain email. Is this possible?

I'm currently paying for two different email providers, 1 for my custom domain and 1 for the rest (KolabNow). I'd like to reduce my costs and streamline this a bit. Didn't really know where to post though so I'm trying here.

Hey everyone.

I'm new to Linux and Fedora Workstation is my first distro. I like it but feel it needs a little tweaking. The screenshot is my desktop as I type this.

I installed "Extension Manager" and the following extensions - "Dash to Dock" and "System Monitor"

1. Dash to Dock converts the Dash to a Dock with auto hide capability as well as being able to move the dock and change the icon sizes. Not necessary but it is annoying after a while moving the mouse to the dash, expecting it to popup and it doesn't. 'Oh right, now I have to hit that key'
2. "System Monitor" shows the real time CPU load, memory, swap, upload, and download. I installed this to see how this used laptop, Levono T470s, handles Linux. So far, it's awesome.

Extension Manager also allows me to tweak the built-in system extensions.

1. "AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support" (that's a mouthful). This one shows minimized app in the top bar.
2. "Window List" is the bottom bar showing the currently open app.

There are pages full of extensions but I'm happy with what I installed.

"GNOME Tweaks" is another app I'm using. With this I was able to add Maximize and Minimize buttons to any open window (there are many other options) as well as pick a few apps to start with system boot. Normally, ProtonVPN has to be started with a terminal command at each system boot. GT does it for me.

Edit: I recently switched from a Samsung S6 Lite Android tablet with a Logitech keyboard and mouse to a used laptop running Linux.

Hey, I’m currently degoogling and I’m migrating from Google Maps to Organic Maps

I have a link to shared list of ~200 google pins and I would like to export them to the file so I can import in OM 😄

What I found on the internet is only Google route exporter but there’s no script or tool to export shared list of pins

Do you have any ideas?

Hi all, this will be a pretty quick summary of the different things I have learned throughout my journey to cut out big tech and switch to the more open of the sourced apps.

Chrome -> (brief period with MS Edge) -> Firefox & forks

• There aren't any extensions missing from Firefox addons and I particularly love the simplicity of the "Dark Background & Light Text" addon.
• On Firefox forks, I have tried Librewolf and Floorp. Librewolf is definitely more privacy focused and I would say is quite good if you're looking for that. Floorp is super customisable and more fun, and also disables the telemetry stuff Firefox enables by default.

Gmail -> Proton, Tuta, and others

• no ads in my email (why were they there in the first place?)
• Proton Mail is quite good, but you have to use their apps since they do not support IMAP. I don't like that since their apps are quite slow. Same goes for Tuta, with their apps being EVEN SLOWER.
• Now I frequently swap between different providers. I can say that both Mailfence and Disroot are quite good and pretty reliable and both use IMAP! Emails load quick and setup is easy.
• I'm sure there are plenty of other email providers that are great too, but these are ones I have tried myself. I would like to switch to a different email provider later down the line. Not sure why, but I actually like switching emails and such.

Spotify -> local music players!

• no ads when I'm listening to music
• works offline
• On Windows I used AIMP and now I use Gapless with Fedora Workstation. Both are awesome!
• what more do I have to say

Bambu Studio -> Orca Slicer

• I like the teal more than the Bambu green and orcas are cool
• Orca Slicer is basically just better Bambu Studio

Google Passwords/Apple Keychain -> Bitwarden and KeePassXC

• Bitwarden is cloud based and pretty good, and KeePassXC is local (but can be synced using things like Syncthing) and is also quite good

Google Auth -> Ente Auth

• Nicer looking UI, and also has a desktop app so I don't need my phone to use 2FA

It's the big one...Windows -> Linux (I chose Fedora Workstation)

• GNOME looks fantastic! Way better than the clunky Win11 interface with some glass elements, some flat ones, and some ancient looking ones they clearly haven't updated in a long time. I've also tried KDE and it also looks very nice.
• Using the terminal to install + update stuff is really good, I no longer need to search for downloads on the web anymore! Also, looking at all the dependencies install is really cool
• NO MORE MS BLOATWARE!!!
• all my apps have linux versions and/or linux alternatives so the switch was seamless. Only thing was setting up games to work with Proton and Wine. Don't play many multiplayer fps games so that was not an issue.
• Also, the file system is a bit easier to work with (no more confusing / and \...)
• Also, the level of customisation is insane! I can switch out the icons (I use Papirus), the shell theme, application theme, etc.
• Apparently GNOME is considered not very customisable by LInux standards, meaning KDE and Cinnamon are EVEN MORE CUSTOMISABLE!!!!!!!!
• penguin is cool

Adobe Illustrator -> Inkscape

• Very similar UI, and also runs a bit faster
• Switched when my subscription ran out, stayed because it's AWESOME
• still can't figure out how to make a straight line, but that's more of a me problem

VSCode -> VSCodium

• Exactly the same, except with some MS extensions unavailable and no MS telemetry
• No Intellicode or C/C++ extension
• I instead used clangd and it works fineish

edit:

• I was able to set up clangd with vscode on Fedora!
• For some reason, on Windows, a bunch of errors popped up saying clangd cannot find headers. On Fedora, another issue was that I was using the Flatpak version of VSCodium, and since flatpaks are sandboxed it had no access to /usr/bin
• After installing the rpm from the copr repo, it worked! No weird missing header errors! That's another point for the community penguin, sorry sheet of glass owned by mini pillow-like...

Google Drive + OneDrive -> pCloud, Jottacloud, and Backblaze

• Google Drive's app is kind of okay but OneDrive's app is HORRIBLE. I'm not going to rant about it in this post since this is about the (much, much) better alternatives
• pCloud's desktop app just. makes. sense. You select folders to sync and it does it in the background, No put-all-the-folders-into-a-ondrive-folder-and-also-there's-two-of-them-for-some-reason like OneDrive does. OneDrive should be called OneFolder...
• Jottacloud is also nice and easy to work with. They don't have a Linux app, but they do have an intuitive CLI that just needs to be started and then you give it the path of the folders to sync and that's it! Again, no put-all-the-folders-into-a-ondrive-folder-and-also-there's-two-of-them-for-some-reason like OneDrive
• I only use Backblaze for syncing my notes as it's compatible with Amazon S3, and it syncs well. That's all I can say.
• I use pCloud for backing up my phone, Jottacloud for my laptop, and Backblaze for syncing a few notes and such.

Google Photos -> ente photos

• Syncing is great, and there's also decently helpful (local) AI that is, importantly, opt-in rather than opt-out, meaning you don't have to use it if you don't want to. whereas google scrapes all your photos to train their AI (probably)
• Their apps are also really nice!
• I am going to attempt to selfhost Immich, hopefully that goes well! :D

GitHub -> Codeberg

• Git still works perfectly fine as expected.
• Codeberg has a very similar interface to GitHub, which is nice
• Two issues though:
  • No mobile app (at least on iOS, not sure about Android. That's fine for the most part, only issue is not having a contributions widget with the little squares...)
  • Codeberg Pages doesn't automatically deploy Jekyll pages, so I have to run jekyll build manually. Not a huge deal. I wasn't bothered to set up woodpecker cli.

YouTube -> Invidious + FreeTube

• Invidious lets me have subscriptions while not needing to log in to a google account!
• I can use Invidious as a web app, since there aren't many iOS youtube clients.
• FreeTube is pretty awesome! You have subscriptions, playlists, as well as the ability to use things like external players. An amazing program that's also cross-platform!
• Invidious and FreeTube occasionally don't work, but that's YouTube trying to block them. Huge props to the people who maintain the thing! It's one thing to develop a really cool project, it's another thing to protect it from multibillion dollar companies like Google from bamming it

[nothing] -> KDE Connect

• File sending and clipboard sharing is AWESOME, like a better more cross-platform version of AirDrop

i think that's it. I might be missing a few though.___

After 2,5 years of intensive research and programming efforts, the entire Openwebsearch.eu project team is excited to grant access to its pilot of the first-ever federated pan-European Open Web Index (OWI).

From June onward, commercial and scientific development teams of any size as well as interested individuals are welcome to access and make use of almost a petabyte (and growing) of open web data under a general research license or – upon request – under a designated commercial license as well.

Given that the European Commission has launched the InvestAI initiative to mobilize €200 billion of investment in artificial intelligence, the Open Web Index comes with perfect timing.

The OpenWebSearch.eu consortium actively calls early adopters to pioneer innovative projects surrounding vertical web search, argumentative search, LLM applications including RAG and more.

“The OWI symbolizes a first step towards true European digital sovereignty and is a fundamental step in paving the way for a comprehensive open European AI landscape.“ says Community Manager Ursula Gmelch and further:

“Our goal behind this initial pilot phase is to onboard a range of projects from diverse domains to get early feedback in. We look forward to users confirming the quality and value in current functionalities and/or helping us pivot in such ways that real market demands can be met and further expanded upon.“

An official kick-off event will be hosted on 6 June from 10 am to 12 am CEST via Zoom.

Registration to the event is open under the following link:

https://cscfi.zoom.us/meeting/register/eATIpDQ5TZidh4Jzkim6FQ#/registration

[,,,]

I'm working on degoogling and moving away from major tech companies. I'm really curious what others here are using instead — especially for everyday tools and services.

What do you use for things like:

1.Email

2.Cloud storage / file sync

3.Maps & navigation

4.Search engine

5.Web browser

6.Calendar

7.Contacts management

8.Notes / to-do lists

9.Office suite (docs, spreadsheets, etc.)

10.Messaging / chat

11.Video calling

12.Social media / microblogging RSS reader / news

13.Music streaming / podcast app

14.Video streaming / YouTube alternative

15.Password manager

16.VPN / DNS / Firewall

17.Launcher / Android OS (if you use custom ROMs)

18.App store / APKs

19.Photo backup / gallery

20.Weather

21.Smart assistant (if any)

22.Anything else you’ve replaced?

Would love to hear about your setup — both what works well and any trade-offs you’ve had to make. Always looking for better FOSS or privacy-friendly alternatives

With Google making YouTube pretty frustrating to use lately, I’ve been looking into alternatives that respect privacy and still give a decent user experience.

Right now, I’m torn between LibreTube and NewPipe. I know both are solid options, but I’m wondering:

Which one is actually better for privacy?

Which one feels nicer to use day-to-day?

And do either of them offer video recommendations based on watch history, without needing a Google account?

If you’ve tried either (or both), I’d love to hear what you think. I’m just looking for something that lets me watch content without feeling like I’m constantly being tracked or pushed to pay up.

Thanks in advance!

This is not very detailed, but hopefully it will help people to protect their privacy completely.

1. Use UAD to debloat your phone, don't forget to download ADB and keep in the same folder as UAD and enable USB debugging in your Android phone, make backups of your important files before you use UAD and as extra advice, download a separate reliable launcher and keyboard, why? you ask, because most OEM keyboards and launchers contain spyware, so UAD may remove them and if no replacement was available when UAD does that then your phone will be trapped in boot mode, because there is no launcher. If any needed app got removed by USD, remember that you can restore it. And disconnect from any OEM accounts on your phone.
2. After you debloat your phone, make sure you disable Google Play Store( you can replace it with F-Droid, Huawei app gallery, UpToDown or ApkPure) and install Sunup from F-Droid to get notifications. After that you can disable Google Play Services( some apps need it, so you need to check if your apps does work without Google play services).
3. Use a DNS service that block Google: you can use Custom Next DNS or Adguard DNS(Require registration) with No-Google list from it's filter settings or if you want an account free option, you can use Decloudus DNS, but the free service suffer from down time frequently.

Hi. I'm looking for Google Home alternative. Aby ideas?

Hey folks, We have been working on a project called InlineStyle

A European, open-source, fediverse based alternative to the Google ecosystem.

It’s a single platform with these services:

• 📧 Email address @inlinestyle.it
• 📹 Video sharing via PeerTube
• 🎵 Music streaming with Funkwhale
• 📝 Docs and Drive via Collabora/NextCloud
• 📒 Markdown based notes
• 🎮 Browser-based FOSS games (Celeste Classic, Tyrian, SuperTux, etc.)
• 🌍 Static personal site hosting

All hosted in Europe. No telemetry, no ads, no corporate BS.

It’s not a startup pitch, just something we built because we got tired of being locked in.

The idea is to keep it sustainable with a simple support plan (€1.90/month) that unlocks upload features and personal email/webspace. Free tier available too, no login needed to browse.

🔗 https://www.inlinestyle.it/

Would love your thoughts. What should I improve? What’s missing for you to consider switching?

Our goal is to try to build a real #DeGoogle path that doesn’t feel like a downgrade. It will take time, but we are willing to try and stay committed to the mission.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/63652634

cross-posted from: https://lazysoci.al/post/26055039

Is there a way that I can get a script or app of some sort that will go through my YouTube subscriptions and find any PeerTube mirrors?

Proton send me this offer with a timer of 2,3 days.

I'd gladly take the offer if there wasn't the potential for me to accidentally show Google my proton mail.. Is there a way for a newbie like me?

Freetube is great for regular video playback but isn't a great music player, and it's not super stable on android for me. None of the YouTube music apps like outertune have video. Meanwhile some way to keep everything organized from my multiple music sources would be cool too.

Created this infographic with help/suggestions from the folks at /privacy. There's a PDF download with clickable links here.

I want to get into selfhosting since I control of my data and not having to worry about copying my files everytime I flash a new is on my phone. The question is, should I use immich or next cloud? If immich is superior for photos, I don't mind not having my files on the cloud. I will be self hosting on a rpi4 I have (if it's possible)

Edit: Thank you all very much for the replies! I will install immich for now and probably setup nextcloud at a later date.

After disabling google play services, many apps, when opened, send a notification saying that 'This app won't work without google play services', while they work perfectly. Some apps send the notification every few seconds as well, and they come back after being swiped away. Can someone please tell me how to disable these annoying notifications?

Video of the issue: https://imgur.com/a/jD3XI3b

Specs (if necessary):

Device: Samsung galaxy a56

Android version: Android 15

As the title says. Just deleted my google account. Next step is the degoogled phone. Anybody any experience with Volla?

Thanks for your help in my last thread! I was looking at Thomson box which I think is called Onn in the US. It says it has built in chromecast so is it not degoogling?

I have zero tech abilities so I have no clue

Slowly but surely trying to de google my life, but Google Photos is a hard one. I have a kid and seven pets, and I've come to rely on Google Photo's search abilities to actually find anything I want to see in the hot mess of disorganized photos.

I tried a trial of Ente and filled it up to the free limit with pics. It was able to recognize my toddler in THREE photos, no one else. I don't know how many or which photos are backed up because it doesn't seem to show them separate from my un-backed up ones. It doesn't learn to recognize pets as far as I can tell.

I'm too tired to learn to self host just to use Immich, even though I've heard good things, ha.