{"id":1126,"date":"2025-03-09T14:58:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T13:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/?p=1126"},"modified":"2025-03-20T18:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T17:40:10","slug":"wat-heb-ik-liever-geen-ondersteuning-bij-een-goed-product-of-slechte-ondersteuning-bij-een-minder-product","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wat-heb-ik-liever-geen-ondersteuning-bij-een-goed-product-of-slechte-ondersteuning-bij-een-minder-product\/","title":{"rendered":"What would I rather have: No support for a good product or poor support for a lesser product?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hills and valleys: My Journey Away from Big Tech<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I will take you on my adventure to switch from Big Tech software to more reliable, European or open-source alternatives. I share my experience with you frankly: successes, setbacks and challenges. Along the way I encounter all kinds of obstacles, such as hardware that does not 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 with me!<\/em><\/p>\n

NextCloud is not Microsoft<\/h1>\n

The switch: simpler said than done<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since I decided to give up my Office 365 (now Microsoft 365) and replace it with alternative services, my life hasn't gotten any easier. The transition started smoothly: my provider was replaced by Halvar.io without any problems. My email functionality was transferred to a business account at Proton Mail. That required some research, but thanks to the Proton Mail Bridge and Mozilla Thunderbird, I now feel like I have more functionality than before.<\/p>\n

The start is good!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

NextCloud as an alternative<\/h2>\n

For file storage, file sharing and calendars, I use NextCloud, offered by one of the four providers known in the Netherlands. And that's where the pain started. Everything doesn't work the way it should. But unlike Microsoft, I can now directly address my SaaS provider. That sounds like an advantage, but the practice turns out to be more unruly.<\/p>\n

OK, I'm not afraid of bumps.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ticket 1: file synchronization<\/h2>\n

My first major problem arose when file synchronization failed on large files. I opened a support ticket and got a quick response. After that, it remained quiet. In the end, the problem did not lie with the provider, but I had to figure that out myself. However, a response from the support department had significantly improved the experience.<\/p>\n

Support is just as important as the product.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ticket 2: the upgrade: a failed transaction<\/h2>\n

To give my partner in our startup, Moreno, access to our shared agenda, I had to upgrade to a paid subscription. This proved problematic: Although my credit card was debited, the upgrade was not carried out correctly. After several emails and a second support ticket, nothing happened. In the meantime, I discovered that I couldn't change my profile. My phone number was German (+49), and it was not possible to change it to Dutch (+31).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, my credit card was enthusiastically debited<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ticket 3: escalation and finally an answer<\/h2>\n

Frustrated, I opened a third ticket, addressed to the sales department. In the end, I sent a kind but urgent message: Will you please communicate and solve the problems? Can anyone tell me if my expectations are realistic? Maybe I want something you can't offer.<\/p>\n

Suddenly there was an answer to my second ticket: Everything is solved! You now have 256GB of storage and your partner can manage the calendar<\/em>. The pride shone from it. Unfortunately, nothing was solved. My profile problem persisted, I couldn't create a user for Moreno, and my subscription was still on the wrong tier. I gave them an ultimatum: Tuesday 14:00. If nothing is resolved, I will either switch to another provider, or host NextCloud myself.<\/p>\n

Whether you appeal to support or sales, Vadims will answer you. In the evening hours...<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Microsoft vs. Europe: a long way to go<\/h2>\n

At Microsoft, I probably would have just created a user for Moreno and everything would have gone well right away. That's the big difference between a mature product and an open source solution with varying support. The dream of a European alternative to Microsoft is beautiful, but we still have a long way to go before it becomes a reality.<\/p>\n

Microsoft offers the better experience, there is nothing against that yet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Necessary Journey<\/h2>\n

Although the road is long, this is a journey we have to make. We cannot remain dependent on a few big American tech companies that dominate our data and digital infrastructure. I am determined to help other parties in their transition to European alternatives that support European social democratic values. Do you want or can you help me with that? Sign up!<\/p>\n

Progress begins with a first step, no matter how long the road is.<\/p><\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hills and valleys: I will take you on my adventure to switch from Big Tech software to more reliable, European or open-source alternatives. I share my experience with you frankly: successes, setbacks and challenges. Along the way, I encounter all kinds of obstacles, such as hardware that doesn't work, services that [...]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-1126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nextcloud","tag-nextcloud","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-pro.nu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}