Hills and valleys: My Journey Away from Big Tech
I will take you on my adventure to switch from Big Tech software to more reliable, European or open source alternatives. I share my experiences with you: successes, setbacks and challenges. Along the way I come across all kinds of obstacles, such as hardware that doesn't work, services that cost money and incomprehension from people around me. I will share everything with you so that you can learn and enjoy this journey. Come on!
Mostly loose
If I look honestly at my daily digital life, then I am now largely separate from Big Tech. Not ideologically loose, but practically loose. Most of what I use no longer runs on American infrastructure or services. My laptops run entirely on Linux and consist exclusively of open source components. Microsoft 365 has been replaced by Nextcloud in combination with LibreOffice. My personal mail runs through Proton and my business mail through a Dutch provider. Where I used to use Google for authentication without thinking, I now work with independent accounts.
At the same time, I am not dogmatic. There are a few anchors that bind me to the United States. My PlayStation, 1Password, ChatGPT and my Samsung phone that still runs on Android. There are plans for all four. Some concrete, others vague. That's fine. This route is neither a sprint nor a purge. It is a series of conscious choices, made at times when they become relevant.
“Digital independence is not a state of being but an ongoing decision.”
What I replaced
The overview below shows what I have let go of, what has replaced it and what it has cost me in terms of money, time and mental flexibility.
| I had | I have | Cost, effort and reality |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Windows | Linux Fedora Kinoite | My laptops are designed for Windows and you can see that. Not everything worked immediately. In particular, hardware-specific features required searching, reading, and experimenting. With the help of documentation and forums, I got pretty much everything working. What ultimately didn't work turned out to be mostly shiny luxury. A stylus for the touchscreen, for example, nice but hardly used. What I got in return is control. Putting the interface completely to my hand turned out to be surprisingly simple. Just click. For future laptops, Linux support will become an explicit selection criterion. I recommend this switch to everyone. Not only for ethical reasons but also simply because my laptops are much nicer and much more efficient devices now. In fact, it's very strange that a laptop is built with only Windows in mind. As if the car manufacturer decides that you have to refuel at Shell..... |
| Microsoft 365 | Nextcloud and LibreOffice | Microsoft 365 bundles storage, collaboration, communication and office software into one product. Nextcloud does this modularly. It includes file synchronisation, sharing, calendars, teleconferencing, project management and notes. E-mail not. You have to take care of it yourself. By the way, I play two environments. A business Nextcloud at Hetzner for five euros per month for about five users, fully managed. In addition, own Nextcloud on a rented server of thirty euros per month. Keycloak for Single Sign On, GitLab for code, Signaling for better video quality and Bitwarden for passwords also run on it. All rolled out via one Docker configuration with external data storage. Maintenance mainly consists of updates. LibreOffice replaces Word and Excel fine, although the world still expects Microsoft files. I can deliver them, but I choose more and more open formats. |
| O365 mail | Soverin | For three euros twenty-five a month I get a technically mature and ethically strong mail service. Functionally similar to O365 mail. Integration with Nextcloud was manual but easy. Authentication via one-time passwords increases security. I tested Proton Mail. This turned out to be less suitable because Proton actually only works well within its own applications. The Proton Mail Bridge exists, but formal Linux support is lacking. That is a hard demand for me. |
| Signal | Not everyone went along. I have really lost contacts. Even my own daughter can only be reached by calling or texting. That does something. At the same time, Signal works functionally the same as WhatsApp, but without structural metadata analysis. No logs on who talks to whom when and how often. That's not a detail, that's the product. I wrote a separate blog about it earlier: https://www.data-pro.nu/alleen-op-signal-over-principes-pijn-en-digitale-grenzen/ | |
| Gmail | Proton | My Gmail account only lives as a technical anchor for my Android phone. My Proton account was created quickly and works fine via app and web. The real work is in converting accounts. Every time I use a service, I check if my e-mail address has already been changed. If not, I'll do it right away. This takes time, but also cleans up. Surprisingly many services I could cancel immediately because I apparently did not miss them. |
| Social media | Fediverse and LinkedIn | Everything but LinkedIn is gone. No Facebook, no Instagram, no Twitter. I have a Mastodon account that I hardly use and honestly I doubt whether I need it. The disappearance of the constant stream of outrage, negativity and screaming feels like gain. LinkedIn remains, because I am business dependent on it for assignments and visibility. |
| Divers | European and open alternatives | I search with Ecosia. Tasks and notes are in Nextcloud. Sometimes I still use Todoist, but more and more often I wonder why. Actually, I just want a list that I can cross off and on which my wife can put something from time to time. (to ignore that because seldom nice chores ⁇ )A lot of the time I write in .md files: https://www.data-pro.nu/markdown-heeft-mijn-manier-van-schrijven-veranderd/ |
“You only really discover what you are replacing when you have to work with it.”
What this teaches
The biggest lesson so far is that almost every office function of Big Tech can also be found in Europe. What doesn't exist is the all in one box experience. Microsoft and Google sell integration and predictability. European solutions sell freedom, mobility and ownership. That means that you have to combine yourself and sometimes have to buy knowledge.
Comparing financially is difficult. At Big Tech you pay per user for a package. In Europe, you pay per service and integrate yourself. A self-hosted Nextcloud for ten users can run for thirty euros per month. At Microsoft you are quickly around 100 euros. But as soon as you have to hire a specialist, that advantage quickly dwindles.
I see opportunities for the self-employed and SMEs in particular. I have walked this path myself with my companies. For large enterprise organizations, it is much more complicated. European alternatives to AWS and Azure do not exist. There we lack time, scale and, above all, courage. For years, everything was about efficiency and outsourcing. The specialists disappeared. If we really want to be digitally sovereign in our tooling, we will have to re-appreciate that knowledge. If you also want to look at choices more broadly than just money or just ideals, this thinking exercise helps: https://www.data-pro.nu/een-nieuwe-driehoek-om-over-na-te-denken/
“The real barrier is not in the software, but in the way organisations have become accustomed to outsourcing choices.”
For now
This is where I came out now. Not perfect. Don't finish it. But workable and conscious. Getting rid of it completely is difficult and maybe not even necessary. The core is now European and open. That was hardly conceivable a few years ago. Tomorrow everything can be different. New tools. New choices. But this is my future for now.
“Tomorrow it can all be different. But this is my future for now.”
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English (UK)