What the US Tech Giants Own

Alternatives to Big Tech

If you’re looking for alternative tech that is not controlled by US oligarchs that simp for the orange man, (or at least ways to bypass providing meaningful support in any way):

• OpenStreetMaps (OSM) is a great alternative to Google, Bing, and Apple Maps. And even to MapQuest (which is owned by a US-based advertising and data broker company). Its map data is sourced from enthusiasts mapping their own communities and countries, and you can participate yourself if you like! It’s free, it’s not controlled by any tech giants, and its data is used to power open-source websites and mobile apps.
  • Organic Maps is a mobile mapping app that uses OSM data. It’s available on Android and iOS, and it allows you to download maps of cities and regions for offline usage and supports offline navigation features. I’ve used it for years, and it was one of the key reasons I could avoid having a data plan while travelling.
• LibreOffice is a free, non-commercial, open-source office suite that competes directly with MS Office and Google Docs. It is rather good (though not as polished as MS Office), and I found the switch to it more or less seamless for my casual usage. If you’ve tried it in the past and bounced off of it (as I did multiple times in the past), try it out again. It’s gotten a lot better.
• Proton Mail is an EU-based, privacy(ish) focused email service. It’s well regarded (though apparently not quite as secure as fans like to claim, but nothing is) and lies outside US jurisdiction. IIRC, it lets you bring your own domain, too, if that’s something you’ve wanted to have! (and, IIRC, the .email domains are pretty cheap. At least they were when I got mine)
• If you are on Android, there are open source YouTube clients that allow you to follow channels, block ads, and skip in-video sponesorships. I’m a big fan of PipePipe, but there’s also NewPipe and GrayJay.
  • In fact, if you’re on Android, check out F-Droid. It’s an alternative app “store” (everything is free) that hosts open source and/or free apps with a focus on privacy and local-usage. There are some real diamonds to be found there.
  • On other platforms, Firefox (and its forks like LibreWolf, Waterfox, Zen Browser, and Floorp) is the only major web browser left that is not controlled, directly or indirectly, by Google or Apple. Brave and Vivaldi are both based on Chrome, and no longer have access to privacy supporting plugins thanks to Google’s bullshit (and Brave is run by a raging Silicon Valley homophobe that has repeatedly used it to try and scam people; folks should look into the affiliate link and crypto-mining incidents associated with Brave). Look into Firefox with uBlock Origin, SponsorBlock for Youtube, and LocalCDN. Available on Android and iOS, too.
• I would like to also highlight the open source social media sites out there. There are a number of federated forums and content aggregators that are open and Canadian operated:
  • lemmy.ca, sh.itjust.works, and piefed.ca are small Reddit-like sites operated by Fedecan, a Canadian non-profit. They’re welcoming spaces, they’re all networked with each other, and they could use the increased network effect of more users!
  • There is also pixelfed.ca, which is an instagram-like photo and image sharing website operated by Fedecan, which is networked with hundreds of others.
  • Meanwhile, thecanadian.social, ottawa.place, and oceanplayground.social are Canadian-operated Mastodon-based websites – so a Twitter-like microblogging experience – that has good people on it (during the Nova Scotia wildfires a few years ago, they were very active in spreading and boosting information of value to residents and loved-ones).
  • There are other social sites too that all connect to each other, creating a big network of small websites. I know the administrator of catodon.rocks, an English-language, Greece-based website that connects with thecanadian.social
  • tenforward.social and cosocial.ca are paid Mastodon-based sites that are operated by Canadians (cosocial is actually operated by a co-op, and all members are shareholders, which is why it’s a paid service).
  • I also have my own networked TTRPG forum that I’ve been setting up, that I’m happy to offer invites to if anyone’s interested, but it’s a weird little roleplay-focused side project of mine. But it connects with Mastodon-based, Lemmy-based, Piefed-based, and Pixelfed-based websites.
  • Which reminds me: NodeBB is Canadian made open-source forum software that networks with other NodeBB- Mastodon-, Lemmy-, Piefed-, Pixelfed-, and Misskey/Sharkey/Catodon-based websites.
  • I’d like to raise a yellow flag about BlueSky and systems that use BlueSky’s “AT Proto” or “ATmosphere” system. The ATmosphere overwhelmingly funnels all content through BlueSky-owned systems, and BlueSky is US-based, and backed by VC investors who also backed Elon Musk and other technocrats. But that said, it’s currently a significantly better option than Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit with respect to centralization, influence, and behaviour.
• Rambling Readers is a UK-based GoodReads alternative running on the federated, open source book-reviewing platform BookWyrm
• Signal is a privacy focused messenger app. It’s end-to-end encrypted, which can cause some minor hiccups every once in a while, but it’s mostly fine. Last I used it, it required a phone number for signup, though, which can make it kind of annoying for family use.
  • There’s also XMPP, a network of messenger servers that can be used by a small fleet of independent apps. It’s not encrypted by default, but many servers/apps support encryption. If you have your own web server, you can even host your own XMPP server (I have one for my family and friends. It was easy to set up. I’m a fairly techy guy, but I’m not, like, a system admin or anything like that)
  • Matrix also exists, and is more chatroom like. Like XMPP, it’s a network of chat servers. It’s like advanced IRC, with modern desktop and mobile apps.
• DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search portal (leveraging Bing’s search engine), and Ecosia (also Bing-based) directs its revenues towards tree planting. Both work just as well as Google search now that Google has completely neutered its search engine.
  • If you want to go deeper down some rabbit holes, SearXNG (pronounced “Search Engine”) is an open-source meta-search-engine that you can self-host, and there are people out there operating SearXNG-based websites that you can utilize. I think they also have their own paid-membership based search site that is reported to be very good, but, you know, requires you to pay.