My journey towards more European, open source, privacy-oriented, and decentralized alternatives
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Maybe from a technical point of view, but if you have a 1080 screen or lower, from a couch distance you cannot see any deficiencies in quality. I have a 4k tv and my player upscales the footage. I cannot complain whatsoever.
wrote on 27 May 2025, 12:51 last edited byCouch distance and especially screen size can vary a lot. I can clearly see the difference between full HD and whatever resolution DVDs have at the 2~3 meter distance at my parents'. (43" full HD screen). Same goes for 4K vs full HD on my 60" screen.
In any case, my main point was that DVDs are no viable alternative to streaming services since all of them offer much better quality. If you really want to replace streaming services at similar or better quality, go for Blu rays.
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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)
wrote on 27 May 2025, 13:00 last edited byTry /e/OS, i think you will love it and find the UI to be surprisingly much like IOS! www.e.foundation
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Try /e/OS, i think you will love it and find the UI to be surprisingly much like IOS! www.e.foundation
wrote on 27 May 2025, 13:06 last edited byOn my radar but I only have an iPhone (provided by my company) so pretty limited in what I can do with it (and not keen on having 2 phones)
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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)
wrote on 27 May 2025, 14:00 last edited byBased lol
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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)
wrote on 27 May 2025, 14:31 last edited byMessaging: If you ever have a secondary phone, like for your job, install there whatsapp for business related matters and add your personal account. Connect to web.whatsapp.com from your personal phone enabling desktop view and get the QR. Then, on your business phone, on your personal account, go to the add another device menu to read the QR. Save the app. Reescan the QR every 2 weeks (when it logs out). The interface is sh*t for mobile, but it works.
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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)
wrote on 28 May 2025, 00:04 last edited byWhat did you do for music? I want to replace Spotify but the loop of downloading music from my weekly listens brains playlist and organising it is draining.
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What did you do for music? I want to replace Spotify but the loop of downloading music from my weekly listens brains playlist and organising it is draining.
wrote on 28 May 2025, 04:38 last edited byI’m on Spotify (which is European) but I don’t stream a lot of music - I’m mostly into podcasts and radios.
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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)
wrote on 28 May 2025, 12:45 last edited byBeautiful journey! And very close to the path we’re trying to support.
If you’re still exploring alternatives, feel free to try InlineStyle.
It’s a small open-source platform from Europe that brings together docs, notes, music (Funkwhale), video (PeerTube), games, email and personal sites. All under one roof, with no ads or trackers.We’d truly love to hear your thoughts, especially on how we can grow this into a real alternative for digital independence, not just a nostalgic step back.
Your feedback would mean a lot → https://www.inlinestyle.it/
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I’m on Spotify (which is European) but I don’t stream a lot of music - I’m mostly into podcasts and radios.
wrote on 28 May 2025, 13:19 last edited byWhat about audiobookshelf and funkwhale?
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What about audiobookshelf and funkwhale?
wrote on 28 May 2025, 17:34 last edited byInteresting options if you’re into self-hosting (I’m not atm)