@shebang Begin with #DeGoogling it.
A new life.

Here in 2023 I keep getting sexually explicit spam CC-ing me and many other people through #GoogleApps.

#Google has the technology to automatically weed out 99% of this behavior: Is it a new account? Is it sent to a bunch of people at once? Does the AI algorithm detect sexually explicit content? If so, it should be an easy block.

They have the technology. They just choose not to use it because more eyeballs makes them more money. I'm tired of it. That's why I'm #degoogling.

#degoogle

@Bogusmeatfactory I, too, suffered with dumb ads. Then a couple of weeks ago I got more serious about #deGoogling. I gave up on #Chrome and installed #Firefox + its Ublock origin plugin. What a huge difference it made in not being bombarded by ads!

The biggest downside was in Facebook where the screen gets pretty jumpy as I scroll down, as the system keeps trying to serve ads which are constantly being whack-a-moled.

I made another small step in #degoogling my life, I switched from Google Authenticator to another 2FA app.

#degoogled

Actually there is one more step to #degoogling which is ditching a phone that uses #playstore and other #Google services.

Currently eyeballing #GraphenOS, but switching phone OS will happen at a much later point in time. Baby steps for now.

#Degoogling means tha each #Google service needs to be replaced, step by step.

Since I'm not in a hurry and this isn't a race, it might take me weeks or months. It requires evaluation for the possible alternative apps. Sometimes it might not be possible to find a 1:1 replacement but instead a combination of different apps.

So far I've replaced #GoogleKeep with #Obsidian and #GoogleCalendar will be replaced by #protoncalendar.

(2/X)

The recent proposal, called #WebEnvironmentIntegrity, basically gave me the final push to start #degoogling and not just dream about it haha.

I've been using #Google Tools since 2004, so I am definitely entangled in it.

Replacing everything sounds daunting at first, but like with every big problem, it becomes very manageable when breaking it down into smaller problems.

(1/x)

I think now that removing some acquaintance from my #connection list on #linkedin can be a great step in #degoogling my life.

#unfriend #degoogle

@tommy Cool! I hadn't read about #microG properly before. Thanks for that.

Silly question: how do you work out which flavour to install from https://download.lineage.microg.org/ ?

If I find myself with more bandwidth to move deeper along the #OpenSource / #DeGoogling spectrum, I'll give this a go! Currently, using #Fairphone's stock #Android, and helping test betas / file bug reports is about where I'm at I think 👍

@kev : I think the point is NOT about getting rid of your iPhone, but, instead, being able of getting rid of Apple (in your case), Google (for lot of other people), Amazon (think to Alexa) and similar companies.

If you're unable to live your life without real alternatives to services those companies are offering, than I think this is the first problem to address.

As for myself, I started #degoogling myself ~2 years ago. Currently, with a common smartphone. Not an easy task, unfortunately :-(

Fediverse! Is there a decent Google Photos backup tool which preserves the location info and is able to sync incrementally?

My #degoogling has been slow but largely successful except use of Google Photos for sharing pictures of my kids with family. However I would like to still keep a local backup of it all for peace of mind. Any ideas?

#degoogling

On Jan 2021, I de-googled my Redmi Note 4 [1]. Unfortunately, last week, I physically broke its display so... time to switch to a newer device. With a budget ~150€, I struggled *A LOT* in finding a reasonably good device. I ended with a Redmi Note 11, supported by SparkOS [2]. It has been *HARDER* than Jan 2021, but in the end, I succeded. I'll write a detailed blog post, later on. Stay tuned!

[1] https://fosstodon.org/@tkimnguyen/109380536447874246
[2] https://spark-os.live/

Ill first transfer 500gb of files to the drives over USB, then plug it into my home server and probably install #jellyffin

I'll leave #nextcloud for later, since I want to make my #degoogling a slow process

Found a great #matrix room:
#GAFAM Alternatives.
Full address:
https://matrix.io/#/#gafam-alternatives:matrix.org

I guess it is an #IRC bridge. So what if the address of the IRC server ends with ".de"?
It is a cool place to talk about #alternatives, and I would like to see more activity there.

#degoogling

That's it! Removed all my Google #reviews, positive and negative!
A business can sue you over those reviews. There are businesses that see a bad review and rush to threaten with a #lawsuit instead of fixing a problem and asking politely that the review be deleted.
What the #zark is this?
One more Google service I will not use anymore. #degoogling

Sostituito google foto con simple foto. Ho recuperato tutte le foto dal cloud con il servizio google takeout.
Però adesso devo trovare un buon servizio per il backup delle foto possibilmente non troppo esoso.
#google #lealternative #degoogling

Dopo qualche ora di lavoro per configurare tutto come si deve sono riuscito ad attivare la mia istanza personale di #OwnCloud ora non mi resta che migrare le foto e potró dire addio ad #iCloud e al suo inconcludente servizio clienti. Apple fa ottimi dispositivi ma a mio parere l'ecosistema è sopravvalutato. #degoogling #deapple

What #floss alternatives do you recommend to Google #sheets (both managed or self-hosted)?

My requirements:
- Friendly UX when collaborating (write/edit permissions) with "normies" (sorry for the condescending term).
- Cloud sync/backup.
- Android support (via browser or a native app).
- All of the expected basic formulas functionality.

#deGoogling #foss #spreadsheets

#DeGoogling picks of the day:

@nextcloud - Create your own personal cloud

@peertube - Fediverse alternative to YouTube

@fdroidorg - FOSS alternative to Google Play

@openandroidinstaller - Makes it easy to install de-Googled Android ROMs

@microg - Develops FOSS alternatives to Google's Android services

@calyxos - De-Googled Android OS

De-Googled Email:
@hellomailo
@fastmail
@mailbox_org
@Tutanota
@thunderbird

De-Googled Android phones:
@iode
@volla
@e_mydata
@murena
@nitrokey

Now THAT is what a phone should look like after an OS install.

#Graphene #GrapheneOS #degoogling