There are a lot of alternatives out there. What service or services are you stuck on?
Comment on The Browser Wasn’t Enough, Google Wants To Control All Your Software
gdog05@lemmy.world 3 weeks agoI will help hand hold anyone who wants to build servers or services (to the best of my ability) to replace Google services with their own.
blitzen@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
frank@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
For me, MitID in Denmark. 100% required for society and life here, requires Google Play Services now :(
I tried e/os on my Fairphone for a bit. I think I could make it all work okay enough besides that. I should write people at the government or something I guess?
Zombie@feddit.uk 3 weeks ago
Yes! Being active politically is always important.
Be civil and polite at first, you want these people on your side after all. But don’t be afraid to hold back if they respond with bullshit either. They are your representative, make them represent you and hold them to account if required.
Encouraging friends and family to write is usually a good idea too.
Not being politically engaged, I feel, is one of the main reasons for the downfall of democracy throughout the globe. Too many people think ticking a box every 4-5 years is all they need to do.
frank@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
A good bit harder since I’m not a native Dane. In some more years when I’m a full fledged citizen I can start in earnest, but I’ll ask now at least
Wowbagger@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Don’t use the app then? I have a key thing which works quite well. www.mitid.dk/en-gb/…/mitid-code-display/
frank@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
TIL this exists. Super cool.
Hvad koster det?
gdog05@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t know myself, but Graphene OS (on Google Pixel phones) has a pretty impressive sandbox layer for the play store and the apps it installs. It might be worth looking into if you’re not aware of it currently. (But if you’re aware of the Fairphone, I’m guessing you probably know about Graphene).
frank@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
I do, but as far as I was aware my Fairphone can’t run Graphene? I would love to keep using my Fairphone over buying Google’s hardware at this point
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
graphene is only for pixels i believe.
Diurnambule@jlai.lu 2 weeks ago
On graphene the release of the integrity API broke most of my gvt applications. I will have to buy a cheap android phone to be able to fill my taxes… I contacted them, they told me it is for security, I argued but it is useless. I have to buy an android phone or be punished for not filling my taxes. Amazing
deczzz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Also, only officially browser for MitID is fucking Chrome. Always works with Firefox or libreWolf, though. However, I have contacted MitID two times about issues. They are always referring that I should look at the help page supported OS/browser blah blah. They don’t care about the part of the population that doesn’t use Chrome. Ironic that the same government now screams and shouts about how we have become too reliant on US big tech… Idiotic tech noob politicians.
blitzen@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
I’ve never heard of that, so I looked it up. There definitely appear to be non-Google alternatives.
frank@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
What? You can’t use an alternative app. It’s government issued identification and required for life here.
I (and as far as I can tell, all others) can’t get it to work outside of android
fartographer@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Got any advice on alternatives to Drive? I keep considering nextcloud, but people I know have said it’s a resource hog and finicky at best.
TeddE@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Syncthing
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
This is the answer unless you consider setting up a DIY home server fun, which often the kinds of people who recommend options for this kind of thing do… so just keep that context in mind here with recommendations.
Syncthing is a great solution and it is wayyyyy less a headache than any other DIY method I have done for replacing cloud/filesharing purposes.
TeddE@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Syncthing is what Dropbox was, before Dropbox became just another cloud data provider.
WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
just be sure to check if the deletions sync timeframe suits your case. in the new 2.0 deletions are not remembered forever
KneeTitts@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
people I know have said it’s a resource hog and finicky at best
Those people may be the kind who tell you formatting your hard drive and reinstalling windows every other week is the best way to keep it ‘clean’.
Ive been using Nextcloud at multiple businesses for years, its a rock.
paequ2@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Nextcloud definitely seems solid… but let’s be honest, it is definitely a resource hog. I tried deploying NextCloud on a VPS with 2GB of RAM, with most features turned off. The instance was empty. After a few minutes, I started getting alerts that I was using 100% of my memory.
Nextcloud isn’t gonna work the way you expect it to with 2GB of RAM. It doesn’t seem like you’d be able to run this on some cheap, low powered device.
Someone rewrite it in Rust! 😅
grue@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It’s 2025. Many cheap, low-powered devices have more than 2GB of RAM at this point.
Jason2357@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Make sure you have swap enabled and it’s fine. Any file host is going to be aggressive with memory to cache all the files and metadata for quicker browsing.
NedRyerson@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
The UI is a little crazy but I am a big fan of copyparty. I have moved my entire family off of Google Drive and we use copyparty, and it works great. Uploads are fast, lots of features, easy to stand up and doesn’t consume lots of resources. But like I said, the UI could be better.
freebee@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
It’s very young and got very popular suddenly, someone will make a nice stable UI for it at some point…
NedRyerson@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I’ve heard that someone is working on one, so fingers crossed it comes out soonish. It’s fine for me as is, but it’s a little difficult to promote to people used to the simplied Google and Apple UIs
graphed_pingu@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If you’re looking to self-host, nextcloud is the way go. But if you’re just looking for a drive alternative, there’s plenty of simpler alternatives, like proton or kdrive.
Jason2357@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I run Nextcloud inside a VM, running on a decade+ old Intel gen 3 computer and the interface is snappier than navigating around google drive.
It is finickier to self-host than syncthing though, if all you need is sync. There are also tones of providers out there that will sell you Nextcloud or similar services.
gdog05@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You’ve got some good suggestions, I think most of the suggestions I can think of. Nextcloud is of course the big one but after using it for quite a while, I think it’s important to break down your needs. If you need file sharing/syncing only, there are better options that are easier and faster. If you only need chat/voice, rocket chat is really lightweight and easy. If you need file sharing, online office suite, chat, etc. Then Nextcloud is the right option. Just keep in mind, even if you think you need some of those things, will anyone but you ever actually use them? No, they won’t, because they don’t appreciate how cool it is to self host and how much effort you put into it.
paequ2@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Seafile is an alternative: www.seafile.com/en/product/seafile_on_premise/
I haven’t tried it. Seems to be more efficient than Nextcloud. It also has way less features. So. 🤷
masterofn001@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Sign up for 10 different free accounts of Proton Drive? It has 5gb free cloud storage.
Though I always prefer the simple physical backup to SD card and backup to PC.
I also have a simple sshd server and use sftp when I’m feeling frisky.
Sending from any device to any device using KDE connect is good too.
floofloof@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
I moved to pCloud + Cryptomator for general cloud file storage and Cryptpad for online document editing. These cover some of the main functions of Google Drive.
kurikai@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Bewcloud?
mesamunefire@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
Email? Its about the only thing leaving me on googles platform ATM. I can self host (with mailinabox) but....I kinda dont want to? Its so much work and I would rather do other things with my time.
gdog05@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I wouldn’t self host email. But I would pay for a host and get away from Gmail. Wait until Black Friday and get free/cheap services from a bunch of places. Maybe even proton if you’re okay with them. Also, using your own domain for email is pretty cool (to me).
Pxtl@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Mozilla foundation is putting together a paid product under the Thunderbird brand. Folks are excited for that, the Firefox people are good people.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I use my web host for email. I looked into hosting it myself but it looked way too fragile. The service is included with the website so it’s not like I’m spending any extra money that I wasn’t going to already…
Maybe porkbun if you just need email?
jim3692@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
But Porkbun charges per mailbox.
I pay for Tuta, and I have added my personal domain. It works as catch-all, allowing me to have an infinite amount of addresses, so I can use a different email on each website.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I do the same (catch-all, unique every site), but if op doesn’t want to fiddle with that stuff, I’ve heard pb is okay. Just giving options.
Jason2357@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I really like Runbox. Nothing particularity fancy, just pure standards compliant email, with excellent reputation, for a very low cost. They have a “drive” too.
There’s also mailbox.org, tuta, the upcoming “thunder mail”, proton, fast mail, probably your domain provider or VPS provider offers email as an add on. Consider paying for a email and a domain. It can be as low as $30 a year, and you become the customer instead of the product. Owning your identity.
AbidanYre@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
lemmy.world/c/selfhosted