First of all a huge thanks to this community and Lemmy, without this shithead Trump I would have never known about Lemmy. 😅 It is so nice to enjoy a complete ad-free service, after years of being on Reddit.

I wanted to share my journey how i finally got rid and replaced a lot of things by European alternatives or FOSS Apps. I have to say I was amazed how much Apps I could replace with the F-Droid Appstore.

Maybe some of the things help others to find a European alternative.

  • Desktop OS: Microsoft Windows 11 --> Linux Mint
  • Mobile OS: Android --> e/Os (bought a used phone, which allows e/OS)
  • Web browser: Google Chrome --> Ecosia, Mullvad
  • Email: Gmail --> Posteo, Tutamail (Using Thunderbird as Clien
  • Calendar: Google Calendar --> Fossify Calender and sync with kDrive
  • Desktop OS: Microsoft Windows 11 --> Linux Mint
  • Files: Google Drive --> Infomaniak kDrive
  • Photos: Google Photos --> Ente
  • Notes: Google Keep --> Fossify Notes [FOSS][P]
  • Social Media:
    • Facebook --> Deleted
    • Instagram --> Deleted
    • Reddit --> Lemmy
  • AI Chatbot: OpenAI ChatGPT --> Mistral AI Le Chat
  • Videos: Youtube --> Peertube, but barely using it
  • Translate: Google Translate --> DeepL
  • Maps: Google Maps --> Organic Maps, Here We Go, Koomot
  • Weather: wetter.com --> Cirrus
  • Online payments: PayPal --> Wero
  • Mobile Payment: Google Pay --> Curve
  • Password manager: Proton Pass --> KeePassXC sync with Syncthing across all devices
  • Travel: Booking --> Check 24
  • App Store: Play Store --> F-Droid, Aurora Store, e/Os App Lounge

So the best part about it, I first thought I would miss Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Reddit. But actually it feels quite liberating and browsing the internet without ads.

  • sanity_is_maddening@piefed.socialEnglish
    9·
    1 day ago

    Great job! Keep it up!

    And welcome to the decentralised side of the internet! It might not be perfect but it sure feels a lot less dystopic.

    Cheers!

  • joelvdc@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    1 day ago

    Great list! I have a few questions and recommendations.

    Look into comaps for a maps alternative. There was some controversy around organic maps, I don’t know all the details. But comaps showed up as a fork and it is really good.

    I’m not the biggest fan of infomaniak and their drive is not E2EE. I would recommend looking into filen.io and proton drive.

    Proton pass was already an European app, and a pretty awesome one. Why did you ditch it?

    And does tutamail work with Thunderbird now? Or is it only Posteo you’re using with it?

    • GarbadgeGoober@feddit.orgOPEnglish
      5·
      17 hours ago

      Thanks for your recommendations. Will look into Comaps and Filen.io Actually Comaps looks much more like Maps.me I used before.

      Was ditching it after some comments of the CEO, and really like the way Mullvad is working.

      No unfortunately still not possible.

  • HenriVolney@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    81·
    1 day ago

    I forgot there were ads on the internet… However, hard to skip WhatsApp with all my relatives using it, including S.O. and children

    • GarbadgeGoober@feddit.orgOPEnglish
      5·
      1 day ago

      Yeah WhatsApp was the hardest bit. But was annoyed by so many messages, so now I enjoy the reduced amount with Signal.

    • maam@feddit.ukMEnglish
      4·
      1 day ago

      We need more folks asking their friends and family to use Signal. I will do my part later.

    • Szewek@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      3·
      1 day ago

      Yeah, I also basically forgot about ads on the web :D

      Not feeling that every step you make online can trigger an offload of content from a random internet bubble is great. Like when, e.g., that one day you clicked on a video about migration, and oh boy, algorithms go crazy. I totally don’t miss it.