I want to degoogle my life. But I can't.I am aware of the all-seeing eye of google. That motivated me to degoogle as much as possible. I bought a proton subscription and started making extensive use of proton drive, proton mail, proton pass and especially simplelogin. However, i still use google a lot since i need a gmail account for youtube, for school, my everyday google searches and lately more and more gemini, which is, if i'm being honest, a lot of help.The real problem is my entire family uses gmail. My friends all use gmail. My gf has a pixel phone and google photos already has hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures of me they can scan. My gf and I share a google calendar. In school, i am forced to use a gmail account linked to my college e-mail to submit most things and keep track of assignments. So far I've been going back and forth between proton and google. Proton offers a very interesting service with end-to-end encryption and zero-knowledge policy, but all their apps are clunky, lacking or just look half-assed. They've been promising a task functionality to their calender app for years, as well as a dedicated linux desktop app for their drive app and so far nothing. Worse still, I use linux on my computer (partially as effort to ditch big tech) and proton does not prioritize linux apps. Google, despite their big-brother vibe, has really polished products that just work. Now, how much of me staying with proton is just stubborness since google probably already has a profile on me that would make the KGB blush?
The full google experience with a pixel is peak comfy, everything synchs across my workspace cloud and it just works seamlessly, would never go backJust ignore the neets and simply embrace it, if everyone that screeches about proprietary software - would have moved his ass and tried to offer a solution that can offer me at least 50% of the smoothness that the g suite offers then I would maybe consider moving, but most of the muh privacy and muh safeguards solutions are just unoptimized crap
I want to degoogle too, it really pisses me off how Google requires me to sign into a Google account to use the Google Play Store on my phone, linking my phone number to the Google account. Also the default text messages app was "Google Messages" which also requires such an account (why the fuck?)
>>108774275I've been a bit in a similar situation. I've tried proton and other privacy stuff, but it just doesn't work if you lead a normal life. I managed for a while during covid to be fully foss. But when things started happening again, it all fell apart pretty quickly. Living irl where people share google and/or microsoft stuff with you makes it inevitable that they get a piece of your data. I genuinly believe that google and microsoft are not "scheming" to get data to do neferious things with. They literally just want to show you ads (which you block). The ethics behind it is disgusting, but I think the reality is less "damaging" than people make it out to be sometimes. I've been thinking of using linux like you, but manage my real life stuff with google or microsoft. Just use the things that work or are fun to play with. Don't be religious about it. All these online influencers mostly also just use a google drive or a google calendar or whatever. They just don't show or are vocal about it. Of course, you always have to be mindful that google can just close your account for whatever reason. Always make sure you have backups or contingency plans for when that happens. And you can edit a lot of privacy stuff also in the settings. Just turn off the most shitty things and live your live.
>>108774275yeah, yeah, just be ready when a stupid AI agent from google flags your account for wrong-think and you lose all your digital life in an instant with no way to reply.Not saying google doesn't work well, just be ready for when it doesn't.It's not about privacy anymore but about self-sovereignty
Is there a good alternative to Google Docs that has a good Android app? I currently don't have a laptop yet so I use my phone to edit my documents and I can't find a good app that edits LibreOffice ODT files. I tried Collabora Office (it was officially endorsed by the LibreOffice project for editing documents on mobile) for Android but it was way too buggy, it literally corrupted one of my files and I only got the file back because I had an earlier backup of it.
>>108775118>It's not about privacy anymore but about self-sovereigntyis it though? And i get the argument that google could just completely arbitrarily shut down your account, but isn't that the same with every company? Granted, wit proton they can't scan your stuff to shut you down for "wrong-think", but proton is a basically a garage-band provider. Who's to say they don't go bankrupt next month and best case scenario I get one month notice to back my stuff up somewhere else? Seems to me the only real way to be "sovereign" is to host your own service, your own e-mail, your own cloud, at which point it would probably be easier to just go back to the pony express. Sometimes I get the feeling the whole privacy thing is just tilting at windmills for the sake of it>>108775288I've been looking into it too and OnlyOffice with Collabora seems a viable alternative. OnlyOffice is technically open-source and based in Latvia but they have a russian company behind them in some capacity. On the plus side, it seems to offer superb compatibilty with MSOffice products, much more so than libreoffice
If you're too stupid to degoogle, you deserve everything you get.
>>108774275The point is to staunch the flow. Data is like blood, and just because you've already leaked a gallon of it on the floor doesn't mean you should keep letting it drain. The trick is slowly change things and only compromise when you have to. Migrate photos from Google Photos to a more trusted service and try to convince your girlfriend to do the same. Mine is into privacy and security even more than I am because once people know the extent of the surveillance and how that data goes to LexusNexus where every future employer or curious stalker could potentially access it, they typically want to stop feeding the machine.Data pays well because they want a constant profile on you with frequent updates, sometimes nearly real-time. You do make a difference by stopping the flow of your data into data centers and by raising awareness. It reminds me of when people heard about the NSA and were like "ehh whatever" but once you told them they can see your nudes then they're like "Wtf?!!" Normalfags simply do not know how bad it is even if they think they do.
>>108774275You can use google without sending any of your identity anonOh wait you missed out on empty phone number accounts LMAO
>>108776384>is it though?Yes, it is.>I get the feeling the whole privacy thing is just tilting at windmills for the sake of itRight, then keep using google or whatever other service you like.
>>108776533You sound like an angry homosexual who just got shunned by the cock you've been craving to pleasure from weeks.
>>108774275>more and more gemini, which is, if i'm being honest, a lot of helpKill yourself retardNo real human needs AI
>more and more gemini, which is, if i'm being honest, a lot of help
Imagine how low IQ op must be to find a highly hallucinating token predictor "useful"
>>108776564Why don't you back to r*ddit you retarded subhuman?
>>108774275It is fuck easy. Just don't have a Google account. If you need cloud get something from Hetzner.
Sad but true
>>108774275I only read 3 sentences. Why do people write more than a paragraph on 4chan? This isn't your blog site you know.
>>108774275Come home, schizo
I have tried "degoogling" a bit, though not completely. I replaced google search with Kagi and honestly havent looked back, I have the normal tier dont care about the AI bullshit but as a search engine its really good. I like what I see not being the product and think just that alone is worth it.Im never getting rid of google maps, I dont think ever in my life, quite ironic from a privacy standpoint but its just insane how good it is at estimating everything. Also I dont see myself dropping android, but would be open to give something else a try at some point, thought I want my bank applications to work so...Gmail is whatever, people dont care too much I have a different address most have seen similar stuff because of their works, for drive I have a nas but still keep some backups on corporate clouds.I dont see you needing to use google products for university (or for work which is really common, be it google or microsoft) as that much of a problem, always keep your personal stuff separate and control the latter, you shouldt mix them. I do think you replacing "everything google" with "everything proton" isnt necessarily the best, but thats just personal preference, Id rater use shit that does one thing but does it well.
>>108777333>KagiLmao that vibecoded dogshit asks you to sign inYeah totally gonna do that
>>108774275granted I'm older than you, but I only use my google accounts for google related stuff, and none of that shit is important enough to cause a real problem if they decide to ban me for whatever reason>gmailI stopped using gmail because they really love delaying emails by hours, and why bother when there are plenty of free alternatives that send out emails immediately?>smartphoneI don't have one, and never will have one. I'm going to die on this hill, I'd rather go to prison than use a mossad glass brick that I can't even see outside in direct sunlight. My dumbphone can handle 4g no problem, and no app bullshit means randoms on social media can't just bother me.>schoolThat sucks, but you can still minimize your google usage to that. Do yourself a favor and spread your necessary activities across multiple accounts, in case one get b& out of nowhere.>gfIf she isn't willing to hear you out and accommodate you downsizing, then she's not the one.>appsIf you really need collaboration-driven shit, stick to things that run in a browser, even msoffice does nowadays.
>>108774577good luck when their AI glitches and deplatforms you for something you didn't do, and then rejects your appeal, too
>>108774275Can't fix it. Your life is in the hands of basically every third party in existence, and you didn't agree to show up in their photos. Being photographed is implied consent, and it's the only kind of recording where it's like this.Don't think about how Palantir is doing this when you step outside in or around Ring cameras.
>>108774577>>108774275Wait a minute.. This thread is all reposts. This whole thread is just duplicated posts made over and over again.
>>108777346Retard
Unsubscribed. Your blog is shit. Kys
>>108777211For native English speakers it takes about 10 seconds max to get through three paragraphs. It's just casual conversation.
>>108774275You dont have to go all or nothing you know.>mailYou can send mail from proton to google so this is no issue>passLiterally anything is better than google regardless here. My recomendation is a combination of your browser and keepass (you will have to transfer the kpdb file around your devices once in a while though)>searchEither brave search or startpage>youtubeUse google, or newpipe/revanced and freetube/browser with ubo>driveUse google if you must, you can encrypt zips if you dont want to give away all your data>geminiUse google>calendarUse google, or something like etar and get a real life calendar. Pen and paper here is more convenient regardless>In school, i am forced to use a gmail account linked to my college e-mail to submit most things and keep track of assignmentsUse your gmail when you have to login to send your assignments, dont use it otherwise>My gf has a pixel phone and google photos already has hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures of me they can scanDoesnt mean you have to send them more. If you dont depend on them, this can one day change too if she switches, and you wont have to do anything about itAlso dont listen to alphabet/mossad agents such as >>108774577
