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I've updated the Digital Independence cheat sheet for leaving big tech (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by lukakopajtic@lemmy.world to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk

27 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I never imagined the original post would go so viral and be seen by +6M people. But I guess it shows there’s real momentum — and the perfect time to finally escape big tech’s grip.

I went through hundreds of reposts of the image and took in feedback from community comments. I’ve replaced USA-centralized apps like Brave and Bluesky with more open alternatives, and added self-hosting indicators.

As many of you recommended, I’ve also created an online version with descriptions that we can constantly update and improve.

Drop a comment if you have suggestions for a better alternative, improved description, or a feature for the site. Let's break free together!

top 27 comments

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[-] Libb@jlai.lu 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

LibreWolf is not an alternative to chrome, it's a fork of FF. It won't run Chrome extensions... which chrome users would likely expect to be able to run.

For a Chrome alternative, I use Vivaldi (which is based in the EU)
As a Firefox alternative, I use Waterfox

[-] dunidane@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 1 day ago

What separates waterfox from firefox or librewolf?

[-] Forester@pawb.social 5 points 1 day ago

Different Dev teams

[-] absquatulate@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

As with all impromptu lists, this one is pretty flawed. For example, as much as I love it, lineageOS is not useful for "digital independence" in any meaningful sense, since it's just a more cleaned up version of android. Or PeerTube, which can't really be considered a realistic alternative to yt. It's fine in itself, but it's so small and so hard to scale that you might just be better off giving up the yt format altogether. And then there's Thunderbird. I love it but it's a CLIENT, you'll still need a mail provider.

[-] psud@aussie.zone 1 points 17 hours ago

LineageOS is worse than that. You can't have it and also have local security as you cannot lock your phone bootloader with an unsigned image. You can't protect yourself from anyone with physical access to the phone.

[-] jnod4@lemmy.ca 1 points 15 hours ago

So the moment you get lineage anyone with physical access can install bootloader things in your phone? Eg cerberus?

[-] psud@aussie.zone 1 points 14 hours ago

Can install any software

[-] paraphrand@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

I don’t think piracy is a proper alternative to paying for commercial content.

Free content is.

So it shouldn’t be on this chart IMO. It’s a separate topic. It’s not a good look to lump piracy in with open/free software ideology.

[-] lath@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

It's a start, but the goal should be to have multiple options. Any monopoly can either be bought or abused and we should work towards making those as hard as possible.

[-] lmuel@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 day ago

While I’d generally agree, I don’t think fediverse platforms having a monopoly is as dangerous.

Social media requires a sort of monopoly to work well, I think federation is a good approach here.

[-] lath@lemmy.world 1 points 10 minutes ago

Perhaps. It's still early to tell.

[-] BlastboomStrice@mander.xyz 5 points 22 hours ago

Hello, very nice guide:)

I'd just like to bring to your attention, a very thorough comparison of messengers you might want to check😄

https://eylenburg.github.io/im_comparison.htm

[-] calisti 3 points 21 hours ago

OpenSUSE Linux from Nuremberg!

[-] MischievousGT@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago

Last time I used thunderbird was many years ago, like 10 years or so. Can you create a mail adress there? How does it compare to other providers like Tuta, Proton, Posteo and others?

[-] Libb@jlai.lu 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's an email client, not an email provider. It can be used to receive/send emails from almost any provider, not to create new ones.

[-] CannedTuna@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago

Yeah, as Thunderbird is just a mail client, and not a provider, it’s not really an “alternative”. It should list StartMail, Mailbox.org, Tutanota, etc. Since people are used to using web clients for emails, I don’t think suggesting a desktop app that still requires an provider is necessary, just creates confusion.

[-] Libb@jlai.lu 3 points 1 day ago

Yes, there are quite a few approximations in the list ;)

in the EU/Western Europe, as an e mail provider I would suggest in no order: maibox.org, proton, tuta and owning your own domain but that one last option (teh best one, imho) may already be too technical for most users.

[-] DaGeek247@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago

Yeah, I saw that one pretty quick and wondered why they did that. Mailbox.org is a better option than just putting 'thunderbird'.

[-] magnetichuman@fedia.io 3 points 1 day ago

Where can I find the best Android alternative for my old-ass devices that don't support Lineage OS?

[-] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

For most of those devices, it depends what your goals are, but many privacy minded folks consider them unsalvageable.

If you can root the device, you could install the latest compatible version of the Android Open Source Project, and then use your newfound root powers to disable components you don't want, to the extent that the older versions of Android support doing so.

Technically, that's all LineageOS is doing for you. So if you're willing to put the effort in, the device can be salvaged. For most of us, it makes more sense to get a newer device, researching what OS-es are supported.

[-] inamorta345@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

Total noob here, can stremio be used to escape big tech legally?

[-] snail_stampede@midwest.social 2 points 20 hours ago

Not really, but big tech breaks the laws all the time so why shouldn't you?

[-] inamorta345@lemmy.ml 1 points 20 hours ago

It's not a moral thing, I just don't have the luxury of evading the law like big tech

[-] snail_stampede@midwest.social 1 points 20 hours ago

VPNs make it easy and affordable but yeah, if the juice isn't worth the squeeze for you that's understandable. There is a bit of setup/maintenance as well that can get sort of complicated.

[-] vesi@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

Treema. No maytrix

[-] gon@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

I didn't want to mention this on Reddit because there's many more people there, but are you guys aware of P-Stream?

It actually replaces Netflix. The legality of the service is... Questionable, at best, however.

[-] Blaze@feddit.nl 1 points 1 day ago

Nice, thanks!

this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2025

208 points (100.0% liked)

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