“Bye bye bye.” It took some time, and a serious amount of research, but I have finally crossed the finish line. I have officially migrated my digital life to pure, EU-hosted solutions.
The Proton suite of apps is really good. I'm using ProtonMail and ProtonCalendar for a secondary work domain that I have, and I've replaced SurfShark VPN with ProtonVPN. I also like the Proton Authenticator app.
By the people, for the people. Okay, seriously, it's manufactured by a Swedish company. You should read more about the VPN here: https://mullvad.net/en/about
I'd suggest, anything you can find and use on a Linux Distro (such as Libre Office, Blender 3D, GIMP, etc) are worth using also on windows. For instance, I use Vivaldi as well to sync cross platforms. But Proton not having a Drive Software for Linux is a downside. You cannot easily sync files for this purpose. Each time you download, edit and upload to replace.
I agree and disagree. I tried several times in the last few years to switch to Linux, and I was never a Windows guy.
My problem with almost any Linux distro is that it's just a huge struggle. And, look, I'm an IT guy from my background. But I don't want to fiddle around all the time, I just want those things work. I sometimes feel Linux isn't improving at all. That's what bothers me.
I've been doing OSS for 9 years (more in the server and cloud world), and what almost every community doesn't care about is usability.
Sorry for the short rant. But I hear in addition to that, "host everything by yourself," etc. Yeah, no, thanks, I have something else to do, and this is not an option for 99% of the people.
I know. I am not an IT guy. I could never work with Linux using drawing software or sheets. But as a personal carry around for leisure time and keeping things private, and occasional noting and idea sketching, scribbling, etc it feels better. At the very least, AI is not being shoved down through my throat.
I actually like Linux - but it doesn't have any smooth GUI available for it. For command line and scripting it's hard to beat. BASH is the best shell ever. And there's a GNU compiler for absolutely any and every language you'd care to use.
My not-tech-savvy mom runs Ubuntu on her laptop. Far more stable and she spends far less time lobbying me for tech support vs when she ran Windows. 90%+ of her problems now are, "you updated but forgot to reboot."
Hmm, that is another non-starter for Proton Drive then - I would require a Linux sync client.
i might some first attempts to contribute, by volunterring for language translations (Esperanto) and suggesting (in user's voice) user groups to be added for Drive - but not much response so far. Is the Proton open source world alive and thriving or not?
If you only need storage, check out Germany based Hetzner (https://www.hetzner.com/storage/storage-box/). They have extremely cheap storage boxes that support most common protocols (SMB, SFTP, WebDAV). Ideal if you want to access it from a wide range of devices. They also have ridiculously cheap VMs :-).
I'm glad that I'm on the right tracks, then. Having migrated from Windows to Linux Mint (I've tooed and froed for decades between Linux and Windows) and recently discovered Vivaldi and Proton I feel more free from big tech than ever before! Keep on trying with Libre Office as it's a great suite for even a non power user like me.
While I switched from Google suite to Proton, I actually prefer https://ellipsus.com/ for writing. Has various themes, can share to people who don’t have an account, make many draft versions of something and so on. I suggest looking into it if you’d want something a bit more than just an alternative to Google Docs
I switched to Proton last year and I'm thrilled with it. What about DuckDuckGo as a search engine? When I don't see it included on these types of threads, I get concerned.
This is really interesting and useful, thanks Max. I'm heavily within the Google ecosystem, and have been for years. It works really well, but I'm increasingly uncomfortable with relying on US-based systems. The combination of tech companies enshittifying and the political situation there is just bad news generally.
The elephant in the room remains Windows, though. That feels like such a point of weakness for computers around the world.
I've been very pleasantly surprised with Linux on my Steam Deck, though. It's far easier to use than when I last dabbled with Linux on a Raspberry Pi a decade+ ago. Feels like it's very nearly ready for a total switch.
Meanwhile, I need to go and poke at Proton. Thanks again!
I, too, have been switching over to more private and open-source alternatives. I changed from Windows 11 to Linux Mint. I use ProtonMail and VPN. I like Mega for my online drive, as it gives you 20 free GB. Instead of Notion, I use Anytype. For browsing, I like Brave and LibreWolf.
Great blog post! I’ve created a website with guides to switch to European and/or open alternatives. I translated the site to English as well https://frikopplad.nu
This list is very helpful. Thanks for putting it together. Now where is the European Substack? There is ghost.org but it doesn't have the social discovery element of it unfortunately.
Thanks for sharing!! Have been thinking of doing the same. Also for all the services the company is using. It is a tough decision as we have some many things integrated (CRM, revenue tracking, analytics, etc etc) but need to make these steps!
Ich leider auch nicht, aber es ist mir wichtig geworden. Schritte für Schritt und es gibt ja Hilfe, wie hier. Proton statt Gmail klappte problemlos gestern.
The Proton suite of apps is really good. I'm using ProtonMail and ProtonCalendar for a secondary work domain that I have, and I've replaced SurfShark VPN with ProtonVPN. I also like the Proton Authenticator app.
Replace ProtonVPN with MulvadVPN.
Highly recommend this. Use it for everything.
I've not heard of MullvadVPN, who manufactures it?
By the people, for the people. Okay, seriously, it's manufactured by a Swedish company. You should read more about the VPN here: https://mullvad.net/en/about
Unlike ProtonVPN, it doesn't log any user metadata. Whereas, with Proton, it retains a small amount of connection metada for a “limited time”.
If you're using ProtonMail, it's recommended you use MullvadVPN. Otherwise, if you want to continue using ProtonVPN, then you have to use TutaMail.
Thanks Abram. I may do a direct comparison of ProtonVPN (my curent favourite) and Mullvad.
What is it about MullvadVPN, that makes it beter than ProtonVPN? You now have my interest. I'm always looking for the very best solutions available.
Why should I do an in depth test of MullvadVPN?
Proton apps are awesome.
Fr been a big fan for YeArSs
Sign up it is absolutely worth it:
https://pr.tn/ref/KYWHHVVW
I'd suggest, anything you can find and use on a Linux Distro (such as Libre Office, Blender 3D, GIMP, etc) are worth using also on windows. For instance, I use Vivaldi as well to sync cross platforms. But Proton not having a Drive Software for Linux is a downside. You cannot easily sync files for this purpose. Each time you download, edit and upload to replace.
I agree and disagree. I tried several times in the last few years to switch to Linux, and I was never a Windows guy.
My problem with almost any Linux distro is that it's just a huge struggle. And, look, I'm an IT guy from my background. But I don't want to fiddle around all the time, I just want those things work. I sometimes feel Linux isn't improving at all. That's what bothers me.
I've been doing OSS for 9 years (more in the server and cloud world), and what almost every community doesn't care about is usability.
Sorry for the short rant. But I hear in addition to that, "host everything by yourself," etc. Yeah, no, thanks, I have something else to do, and this is not an option for 99% of the people.
I know. I am not an IT guy. I could never work with Linux using drawing software or sheets. But as a personal carry around for leisure time and keeping things private, and occasional noting and idea sketching, scribbling, etc it feels better. At the very least, AI is not being shoved down through my throat.
I actually like Linux - but it doesn't have any smooth GUI available for it. For command line and scripting it's hard to beat. BASH is the best shell ever. And there's a GNU compiler for absolutely any and every language you'd care to use.
Did you try Linux mint?
My not-tech-savvy mom runs Ubuntu on her laptop. Far more stable and she spends far less time lobbying me for tech support vs when she ran Windows. 90%+ of her problems now are, "you updated but forgot to reboot."
I've been using the GIMP for a couple of decades. I also like Inkscape for vector work. Blender is very cool, but has a steep learning curve.
Hmm, that is another non-starter for Proton Drive then - I would require a Linux sync client.
i might some first attempts to contribute, by volunterring for language translations (Esperanto) and suggesting (in user's voice) user groups to be added for Drive - but not much response so far. Is the Proton open source world alive and thriving or not?
If you only need storage, check out Germany based Hetzner (https://www.hetzner.com/storage/storage-box/). They have extremely cheap storage boxes that support most common protocols (SMB, SFTP, WebDAV). Ideal if you want to access it from a wide range of devices. They also have ridiculously cheap VMs :-).
I'm glad that I'm on the right tracks, then. Having migrated from Windows to Linux Mint (I've tooed and froed for decades between Linux and Windows) and recently discovered Vivaldi and Proton I feel more free from big tech than ever before! Keep on trying with Libre Office as it's a great suite for even a non power user like me.
I switched from Windows to Linux Mint as well. I like Cinnamon better than Windows 11, but there are some bugs in Linux.
While I switched from Google suite to Proton, I actually prefer https://ellipsus.com/ for writing. Has various themes, can share to people who don’t have an account, make many draft versions of something and so on. I suggest looking into it if you’d want something a bit more than just an alternative to Google Docs
One more great thing you can do is to migrate from Windows to Linux.
I never used privately windows, except windows 95/98 on my father computer :D
Hi,
I wrote some blog posts about the same topic and I'm happy to read your journey.
(I should definitely try Mamouth ^^)
And by the way, you didn't mention your CDN. Most people use cloudflare but there is an European alternative : Bunny.net and it works really well.
And last but not least, I'm building an alternative to Substack : writizzy.com if ever you want to give a try (there is a free tier ^^)
I switched to Proton last year and I'm thrilled with it. What about DuckDuckGo as a search engine? When I don't see it included on these types of threads, I get concerned.
This is really interesting and useful, thanks Max. I'm heavily within the Google ecosystem, and have been for years. It works really well, but I'm increasingly uncomfortable with relying on US-based systems. The combination of tech companies enshittifying and the political situation there is just bad news generally.
The elephant in the room remains Windows, though. That feels like such a point of weakness for computers around the world.
I've been very pleasantly surprised with Linux on my Steam Deck, though. It's far easier to use than when I last dabbled with Linux on a Raspberry Pi a decade+ ago. Feels like it's very nearly ready for a total switch.
Meanwhile, I need to go and poke at Proton. Thanks again!
I, too, have been switching over to more private and open-source alternatives. I changed from Windows 11 to Linux Mint. I use ProtonMail and VPN. I like Mega for my online drive, as it gives you 20 free GB. Instead of Notion, I use Anytype. For browsing, I like Brave and LibreWolf.
Great blog post! I’ve created a website with guides to switch to European and/or open alternatives. I translated the site to English as well https://frikopplad.nu
do you know https://european-alternatives.eu?
Certainly, I’ve gathered a lot from their website and kind of just packaged it a bit more pedagogically 😊
This list is very helpful. Thanks for putting it together. Now where is the European Substack? There is ghost.org but it doesn't have the social discovery element of it unfortunately.
yeap thats the problem :D you can't have all I guess... maybe doing a multi approach? But substack is extremly powerfull.
I experience it right now, one post thats interesting to many and you get tens of thousands of views and hundred of new followers. insane...
Useful writeup! I’m curious if you’ve looked at or considered Swiss-based Apertus (chat.publicai.co), just released in September?
Thank you! Yes, but I have currently no time to look on running it by my own. How does it perform locally?
I haven’t tried running it locally yet, Max. I’m also curious to hear from anyone who has :)
Thanks for sharing!! Have been thinking of doing the same. Also for all the services the company is using. It is a tough decision as we have some many things integrated (CRM, revenue tracking, analytics, etc etc) but need to make these steps!
Hört sich gut an…ich nutze es auch…leider aber habe ich davon viel zu wenig Ahnung..
Ich leider auch nicht, aber es ist mir wichtig geworden. Schritte für Schritt und es gibt ja Hilfe, wie hier. Proton statt Gmail klappte problemlos gestern.
Thanks very much, that’s great