this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2026

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DeGoogle Yourself

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216

Newcomer's De-Googling Progress (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 day ago by greendog@lemmy.zip to c/degoogle@lemmy.ml

19 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hi everyone! I'm still pretty new to the foss world and am actively working to de-google my life. I got a cheap used laptop and just installed Linux Mint so I can get some practice with Linux in general (raised as a Windows kid) and I have definitely appreciated the ease of Linux Mint, but I do plan to explore many other distros in the future as well.

I currently have the following:

Email: ProtonMail (and looking into Thunderbird and Tuta).

Messaging: Signal as my main, but I also have Molly that I am planning to migrate over once I can get my family on board.

Browser: Been heavily experimenting with this as I used to use the default browser (I have a Galaxy S23FE) and then switched to Firefox Focus while simultaneously checking out Brave (no, it's not still on my phone), however I am currently using IronFox as my main on my phone and LibreWolf as my main on my computers.

File storage: Proton Drive

Calendar: TimeTree (for friends/family) and Proton Calendar for personal.

VPN: Proton (I have the package deal) but have also been researching Mullvad as a possible future alternative.

Password Manager: Proton Pass (would be open to suggestions on others. I've heard BitWarden thrown around)

YouTube alternatives: Still playing around with LibreTube, FreeTube, and PeerTube, but I really like LibreTube's layout, just wish they'd pull the comments section too :/

Images/Videos: Also Proton Drive, but that's more of just a backup of them. Any suggestions in this area would be appreciated too!

I haven't had a chance to look heavily into it yet, but does anyone have any resources/knowledge on any banks that are foss-friendly? I'm in the US and there's plenty of laws around mandatory data, but if anyone knows of a bank that stops at that, I'd love to hear! I do eventually plan to go all-cash/pre-paid gift/credit cards, but a bank account seems necessary for now...

Anyways, please feel free to give me any and all suggestions! Thanks!

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[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 hours ago

I can see the top of the step y'all, but I'm getting tired. Almost there.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I know its been said to death, but this is Linux also. You learn it once, and then you have enormous benefit your entire life.

[–] BladeFederation@piefed.social 2 points 8 hours ago

There's not even a lot you need to learn these days, it's pretty self explanatory & polished.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

are you also going to do graphene or lineage instead of android for your phone?

[–] greendog@lemmy.zip 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Yes, I'm really hoping I can last until we see if this Graphene/Motorola thing works out, but if I switch earlier, I was considering either a Pixel 9/10 with GrapheneOS or a Fairphone with /e/os.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

same here; are you me? lol

no seriously (partially): i've been meaning to do the things that you've already laid out in this post, but i've been help back in several arenas; most particularly by embracing proton because of the ceo's support for trump.

the last time i embraced an ecosystem, their motto being "don't be evil" was a first sign of good things to come for a superstitious fool like myself. now i'm at that initial phase again and with another corporation, but this time, the first sign is "hooray from trump" so it's made me very hesitant to jump in and it has effectively stalled my own de-googling efforts.

[–] greendog@lemmy.zip 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, I only heard about the Proton stuff a little while ago and was going to spend most of today researching it (and then all the alternatives if I do decide to switch).

But the reason I chose the Proton Suite to start out is because I feel it's rock solid for entry-level privacy switching. Now that I'm a bit deeper into the privacy world (I've had Proton for around a year and a half now as most of my dailys), I think having multiple different platforms would decrease the risk of a total takeover as whoever would get in would be just that app (Like only using Proton for the VPN and switching email to Tuta)

If you want to DM me, I'd love to talk more in-depth about the struggle of de-googling in this current world

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

you really are me. lol

i also considered the proton suite because it felt like the easiest way to switch and i too have decided that using multiple corporations would be less problematic, so that means tuta for mail; mullvad for vpn; 3rd party for translation; etc.

it means my transition away from google will be MUCH SLOWER than i had planned, but it minimizes the dependency on any corporation that's directed by a trump ally (which i suspect is all of them).

If you want to DM me, I’d love to talk more in-depth about the struggle of de-googling in this current world

it's extra hard to find de-googling information without centralized social media; which is a bit ironic on its own if you think about it. so, for the sake of the fools like me who have excised social media from our lives and who have also purchased and become dependent on google-centric devices like an after-market head units to use with android auto and cameras meant to work with google lens, it make sense to share it with the community at large.

i've been able to piece together that android auto works with both graphene and lineage (respectively), but i can only confirm that it's with head units that came pre-installed on newer cars. my car pre-dates smart phones, so i was one of the first adopters of wireless android auto and paid $$ to have it installed. the only source i could find for my exact situation comes in the form of a comment response to a forum post on xda that says that it works on graphene, but wired only, and i can only guess that the situation is the same with lineage.

my current solution for android auto and google lens is to let natural attrition solve both problems for me. my car is american made and almost 20 years old now so i expect it to die soon and the biggest take away from my most recent post on lemmy is that my google lens cameras are now useless without significant investment in additional computer hardware to run them.

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

silly baloon, you can float

[–] regedit@lemmy.zip 2 points 18 hours ago

Saw a spooky video recently of a over-night janitor at an elementary school being pursued out of a class and down the hall by a party balloon, before eventually recording some black blur that bolted past a doorway and nope-ing the fuck out of there.

Saw another video where this creepy Elmo balloon kept chasing the family, specifically the son, around the house, even upstairs. It kept seeming to want to try to go to the basement with the boy. EVentually, some creepy figure was seen in the doorway to the basement.

So yeah, balloons sure can float!

[–] ZebraGoose@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

Great job man!

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

The Google homepage and search box is a thing of the past. I just decided one day a few years ago to not set my homepage to google anymore. I used to have a simple HTML local page but now I'm using Linkwarden. I keep all my links organized and searchable. Sounds funny and useless but let me tell you what is funny and useless.... Chrome, and google search and Gemini. Google is now an asshole company to be avoided like we did to Yahoo and whatever MSN used to be and the other facebooks...Orkut, and that other famous one. Likos! Go get Google! Mr. Jeeves, make sure you guys make room in the forgotten spaces of the web for Google.

[–] lastweakness@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You're on an S23FE. As a fellow Samsung user, I think you're pretty trapped.

[–] greendog@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

Yep, which is why I want to use this time to get familiar with what apps I can so when this one gives out, I can switch to a Fairphone or Librem 5

[–] Mynameisallen@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Hell yeah! One thing worth looking into on your phone is adb tools to remove Google apps/services

[–] sunnytimes@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

https://adbappcontrol.com/en/ .. makes it easy .

[–] marcie@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

is this even open source? seems sus if not

just use universal android debloater

[–] sunnytimes@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

oh cool . i will instead . thanks.

[–] bramen49@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

Ooh! I'm intrigued. Do you have any resources about what is removable?