Trying to leave non-European platforms
Recently, I have left Instagram (I didn't use it anyways), but I find it hard to replace other things
- Whatsapp: Most, if not all people I know, are on Whatsapp, and likely will continue being like that because they probably think moving to other platforms (like Threema or an EU Matrix instance) to support EU apps and/or rely less on US apps is stupid and stupidly inconvenient (having to move at all, having to pay, having to get used to new GUI...).
- Gmail: Ironically, because I trust Google for being "free" (and therefore I'm not afraid of being locked out of my emails, at least on the "didn't pay" basis.), they seem big enough that they won't be failing so hard it will make their service unavailable. Not like I have thoroughly investigated alternatives to them, though
- Youtube: Basically has a content/tuber monopoly against any other alternatives like peertube.
- Google Maps: I have tried Mapy.cz, OSMAnd, Organic Maps, Magic Earth, HERE WeGo... but most of the time they are missing things, like a gym, or a police station... it annoys me so much because iirc, all but HERE WeGo use OpenStreetMaps, but some get some data, and others other data...
- Windows: Tried to switch to Linux Mint (which is at least Linux, open source), and realized it's wayyyy too far from beign a daily OS. Plus it messed with my computer when going back to Windows...
- Github: Codeberg feels kinda inconvenient for coding, but just because I don't have the ease of use to use git like I have with Github Desktop and VSCode. Maybe I should get used to manually using Git, tbh.
- VSCode: I just realized I depend on VSCode for programming, so if anyone has an EU or open source alternative that's relatively easy to use, I'd like to hear about it.
- Edit: I found out about VSCodium, which is supposedly VSCode without Microsoft's telemetry and features. If anyone has used it, please tell me.
- Google Search: Kinda like Youtube, Google Search often gives me better results than Qwant.
- Reddit: Lemmy feels too empty for my liking. I maybe got too used to Reddit and its algorithm/UI/way of working...
- I was given a free year of Perplexity (another US based AI) before all the US stuff blew up, and not using it feels wasteful, but it's US based and probably uses my data to train itself further 😬
- Google Play Store: I keep it activated because the Le Chat (French AI from Mistral) app needs it for some reason, but mostly I use Aurora Store now.
I was planning to get a 3D printer soon, and while the cheapest one that interestes me is Chinese, I will be saving up more and going with Prusa instead. I don't have problems with that, just wanted to mention it as well. Hardware, food, etc. seems to be easier to replace than online services and software