Leave big tech behind! How to replace Amazon, Google, X, Meta, Apple – and more
(www.theguardian.com)
i just want a linux phone
this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2026
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Don't forget to ditch Google and Apple pay as well.
Why doesn’t it mention the Fediverse at all???
Seems like they’re advocating using a Fairphone running e/OS, Ecosia as the search engine, LibreWolf as the browser, LibreOffice as the office package, and W for social media?
The steady exodus from Elon Musk’s X has benefited smaller, independent alternatives such as ... German-developed Mastodon
This is probably a much more efficient "mention of the fediverse" than if the journalist had started trying to explain that there is this federated network of independent social media sites bla bla bla.
The people reading this are looking for something they can understand. I expect naming Mastodon and leaving it to them to check it out will convert more people than if they started trying to explain what it is.
I'm a bit weirded out by all the attention given to w-social.eu by mainstream media, though. First of all it doesn't exist yet, second we have no reason to believe it will actually be decent, third we have good reason to believe it won't be.
Yeah, that was my main criticism of the article, it completely omitted social media.
Also, the author mentions Codeberg as the “developer” of Librewolf, so it seems is not the most tech savvy around.
Cody Berg was hired by Linus Tovalds after Gita Hub left his company.
Amazon is a hard one to find an alternative to. Mostly what I try to do now is buy directly from the brand. But they don't always have their own website.
Other times I can find the item locally. I'll buy it even if it costs a little more.
Also, sometimes the item is only available at Amazon or Home Depot online, for example. In that case, I'll pick Home Depot cuz they're a slightly smaller megacorp.
As a very last resort, I'll will begrudgingly buy from Amazon. Like if the item is only on Amazon or if the item is significantly cheaper there....
But, fuck Amazon Prime! That's a total scam. I canceled that years ago and never looked back.
they left out framasoft (the greatest suite that most degooglers have never heard of)
I indeed had never heard of it, but now I have! I looks like a great suit of tools!
What's your experience using it?
Framasoft is not so much about providing the service itself, they have limited resources, but to show alternatives exist and are usable. They develop some of the tools (we own them Peertube!).
So they host services, and sometimes end them (with ample warning and instructions to migrate). As they explain: their goal is not to become an "open Google". It's to to make de-googling possible and usable by the many.
As service providers, you should look into the CHATONS.
These are mostly based on the Framasoft suite.
Great article, don´t forget ebay is 100 times better than amazon. For who wants AI privacy we at Hugston made HugstonOne is free and European, Actually the only European AI local App maybe.
My gripe on a browser is I want one that whe. I click a link it's opened in a container by default so it can't scoop up all my cookies and browsing history.
Right now my flow is Firefox focus as default browser, then if it's a page I want to view later or keep open I share it to Firefox. Kind of annoying but ideally I have this in just one browser.
And as I write this and checked, Firefox for Android now does this lol. Vivaldi, the one recommended in the article does not. Not to mention I try and support something that is not chrome-based. We need alternatives
Huh, I was just writing that I wished Firefox would do this, so thanks! I'll check it out. Much appreciated.
EDITED to add: unfortunately it's not for me. I tried it out in automatic mode (recommended) and while it worked perfectly, as soon as I enabled it my browser started to get unstable, pages would lock, mouse pointer would disappear, etc. And then as soon as I disabled the extension all went back to normal. So it's a no-go for now. But thanks for letting us know it's there.
LibreWolf doesn't open tabs in containers, but it is kind of hard coded to never save cookies, passwords, trackers. Every time you close and open browser, it is like to open a freshly installed browser on a freshly installed OS.
Now all it needs to do is randomize your fingerprint.
because your fingerprint can be just as, if not more identifiable and trackable, than your cookies and such.
This is a case in which you want to blend in with the crowd of sheep. Being unique l, randomizing, let's them single you out.
Random fingerprint is trackable. If fingerprint is the same as other users then they can't track you
What is the opinion on Vivaldi here as an alternative? I am using Firefox and Zen currently. But I wouldn't mind jumping towards a European alternative. I switched to Firefox to support an alternative to chromium based browsers, but I think EU/Nordic angle is more important to me.
I've been using Vivaldi for a few years now and it's been great. I really like it's tab management, tiling etc features.