Yes im aware that my search engine choice is not the best option.
- Consider Nextcloud instead of Syncthing. This gives you options for a Google Docs replacement, too.
- Nextcloud notes is a pretty good Keep replacement, too (if you just need simple notes)
- SearXNG is great for seach, and includes DDG
- Love Osmand for hiking/etc, but Organic Maps is a bit better for navigation unless you do some major config changes in Osmand
If self-hosting:
- Nextcloud can manage users/calendar, etc, too
- Immich is more battery efficient than Ente, since the AI is server side. But only for self hosting since no E2E
- Skip Proton for things like self-hosted Vaultwarden. Why use another centralized service?
For search engine I like Startpage. For photos it does not have the DuckDuckGo block and report AI images, but it seems to do that well automatically from my experience. Qwant is another option.
Gmail - > tuta mail
Also you use way too much proton. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Perhaps this one:
Proton Mail -> Tuta Mail
Why? I would be careful with Proton Mail b/c it presumably advocates the Swiss surveillance and security law, which allows to keep information for a longer period of time.
BTW, you can add:
GitHub -> Codeberg (or Forgejo)
If you’re already moving to Graphene, just use Vanadium as your browser. It ships with GOS and is an excellent privacy choice.
Also, proton mail kinda sucks. I used it for a while but switched to fastmail because an email account with zero interoperability is kinda a lousy used experience.
Edit: same with proton calendar. I like the concept but in practice having a locked away calendar isn’t a great feel.
What do you mean “zero interoperability”?
Isn’t the point of moving from things like GMAIL is because the interoperability is exactly why all your data is fucked?
Its just where philosophical and practical meet the road for me.
Proton is a cool idea because they say they don’t scan anything, and that brought me in; but not being able to use an email client of my choice made my day to day experience less pleasant. If you’re in desperate need of the encryption on their servers it may be a totally reasonable trade off, but it wasn’t for me and I’ve heard many others say basically the same.
Because my main objective was not having my personal emails feed the corporate giants my personal information, rather than a hard requirement of encryption, it makes a lot more sense to use fastmail or a similar service and keep the day to day usability of not being completely locked into the proton ecosystem.
Same thing for my calendar, more important to be able to share events with people not logged into proton and to use the client I actually like.
Side note: much of the sell of proton mail gets tossed out the window when you send an email to anyone not using proton. If you email someone using gmail or apple or whatever that server side encryption from proton doesn’t mean dick anymore.
Proton Pass. For privacy, either self host or use offline password managers.
If I’m being very picky and perfectionist, Obsidian.
It’s closed source, and there are open-source alternatives, be it Trilium, Zettlr or whatever strikes your fancy
What is obsidian and signal note to self?
Rn I just add me wife to new chats and keep my notes there. Im sre she loves it.
I dont follow, how does it relate to signal as in the picture?
Dude is just Sendung a signal message to hinself
Apologies, my eyes are old
https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360043272451-Note-to-Self
It’s to replace Google Keep as a note taker.
One of the reasons I prefer Nextcloud is it makes a lot of this easier. Nextcloud Notes is simple MD file and subfolder structure. Nothing special, no special clients needed. They have a droid client, the web version works from desktop, but you can also just sync the folder to a device and open them with anything.
The proprietary format of Obsidian and others like Joplin was too abrasive across clients for me and too locked in to their format. I prefer just using MD because I can edit if with whatever.
Mullvad Browser, SearX or StartPage search, SimpleX or Briar messenger, Fossify Suite(Files, Camera, Gallery, Calendar, Notes, Keyboard, etc), Filen Cloud, Aegis 2FA, SimpleLogin or Addy as mask to email account, FlorisBoard keyboard
What’s with all the hoopla about Google nuking devices with GrapheneOS lately?
Didn’t see anyone else say this: DDG is certainly a great choice for search engine, though I’d recommend brave search:
- If you use bangs, it has them.
- Actually operates an independent index so the search queries aren’t reliant on Microsoft Bing.
Due to several of the companies issues (and it being chromium) I don’t recommend the browser but I do really like the search engine.
Why not Startpage?
Uses google as a backend and was also bought by an ad company.
I still use it, since google sometimes cuts deals with sites like reddit such that reddit is only scrapable by google. But it’s a last resort, after duckduckgo.
I would recommend changing everything Proton with Infomaniak’s KSuite: https://www.infomaniak.com/en/ksuite/myksuite
Keep away from Infomaniak!! Had a problem with my keyboard and miss the password 3 times and get account locked. OK, no stress let’s do a revovery with the alternate email. I received the email to change the password, follow the link and choose a new password. Error, account is locked! OK, let’s do a recovery using phone number. Receive SMS and same thing as the email!! WTF?! So, I have to contact Infomaniak and guess what? In order to protect my account I have to send them my government issued id!! WHAT?? How can that thing protect me? This is blackmail. They have my data and want exchange it for my ID. Why they have email and phone recovery if I cannot successfuly use them? If an hacker has my alternate email and my phone, he probably also has my ID, right? How I solved it? Well, send them a fake ID and guess watch? Five minutes later a have access to my account! They don’t have the means to validate it, was what I though. So, I get all my data back and never look back. What a disappointment, I have moved because it was cheap and I even told all my family and friends. Have to took a step back and leave them because that is all wrong.
+1 for leaving Proton. Bad company, the CEO is a Trump bootlicker
???
As others have said, remove all proton stuff that you can. You are just replacing one centralized service with another. Google started out good too and look where we are now. Never put too many eggs in one basket.
They have almost twice as many google apps though. Why didn’t you mention those?
My answer to this is to use a custom domain with an email aliasing service.
I’ve gone through about half of the 400 accounts in my password manager and moved them over. I’ll migrate the rest over the next week or so.
So, I’m switching from Gmail to Proton for now, but if Proton starts to get worse or Tuta catches up on functionality or there’s a better provider that emerges or I decide to try to self-host, it’s one easy change at the alias provider to redirect all of my mail to a new email provider.
You should try migadu. Thats the most no-bs provider with custom Domains I could find
Just recently discovered Migadu and it’s all I ever wanted!
What does Migadu do? I’m not understanding what “consolidation” means in this context. ELI5?
Thanks. Since I’m just starting my privacy journey, I’m sticking with the mainstream options for now, but using an aliasing service will make it easy easy for me to switch in the future. I’ll check it Migadu and I appreciate the suggestion.
As others have pointed out, having so many Proton might be an issue. However, that line of thought only works if you’re really concerned about having a single point of failure. Most people value convenience much more than that.
The way I see it, this setup is somewhat noob-friendly, but relying heavily on Proton makes it a lot more convenient for many people. Using a greater variety of providers would make sense, but you can’t expect everyone to be ready for a hassle like that. People seem to expect you to be a hard-core privacy warrior who is willing to make significant sacrifices for philosophical reasons.
Most people aren’t like that. Just switching to DDG is hard enough for them, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.
If you take only 1/10th of this diagram, you get the simplified newbie version. Take all of it, and it’s for a person who is clearly interested in security and privacy. Modify a few things here and there, and you get a version for a serious security enthusiast. Different versions for different audiences.
Using Proton Mail, Calendar and Docs is a lot, lot better than using the Google suite. We shouldnt put people off changing, as you said the convenience is important and often forgotton as the major reason people stick with Google.
Just use tutamail - better track record and hosted in Germany
That would have been my recommendation as well. It also diversifies the setup a bit.
However, I can also appreciate Proton as a convenient gateway drug that leads people away from Google.
What track record? They are both the same.
Proton is just more user-friendly.
tuta hasnt sponsored a single far right influencer to my knowledge
I prefer Comaps over OSMand.
OSMAnd has a lot more features that I personally use
different purpose in my opinion
How so? Isn’t it a fork after a dispute about direction?
You’re thinking of Organic Maps
Comaps is not a fork of OSMAnd… OSMAnd is a high powered offline maps and trip planning toolkit with many layer options, custom layers, multiple map views, and a range of plugins.
Comaps is… Well an offline compatible Google mapsish clone. It doesnt have anywhere near the capability of OSMAnd. Its more “general user” focused.
The difference is a navigation app vs a maps app











