Re: [PLUG] FOSS Google App/etc Alternatives

[Rich Freeman via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

Picking one email to reply to but touching on a few others so far...

On Thu, Oct 10, 2024 at 8:22 PM Chad Waters via plug
<plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:
>
> But overall isn't it hard to de-google oneself if you're on an android? You still need a gmail account and you're giving google you location right. Is there anything like Cyanogenmod anymore?

It is absolutely possible to de-google yourself on Android - it is
probably the best platform for it (assuming you don't want to just
replace Google with Apple/Amazon).  Android itself is FOSS and there
are a few google-less distros, often with the option to add Google
back (which is probably how most use them).

Also, even out of the box something like a Pixel does not REQUIRE
using a Google account, though it still runs a lot of Google stuff and
I have no idea how much info gets reported to Google if you never sign
in with one of their accounts.

You can buy things like the Nitrophone which are Google-free out of
the box (using Pixel hardware, which even Google sells unlocked).

That said, I'm not sure I even necessarily intend to go that far.  For
me my biggest concern is the single point of failure. I've heard
horror stories of Google/Amazon cutting somebody off for whatever
reason (maybe they did something the company doesn't like, or maybe it
was a mixed-up identity, or maybe somebody abused the reporting
system, or whatever).  When this happens you can be locked out of a
LOT of stuff.  Honestly, this is kinda what would make me hold off of
something like Proton because it is just another single point of
failure - granted one that has more incentive to keep me happy.  I'd
really prefer self-hosting.

Thanks for the pointer all the same!

-- 
Rich
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