The crazy part about choosing DuckDuckGo, is for tech searches, Google still wins, especially with how it gets latest things from Reddit. But, when looking for things that might be censored, you have to go with DuckDuckGo. The Google algorithm for censorship feels like we might as well be in the CCP.
Why do we keep getting posts of people making such a big deal out of "DeGoogling"? Don't want to use Google Drive? Use a different cloud service. Don't want to use search? mail? there are more than enough alternatives.
IMO it's not as big of a deal to cut out one companies services as posts like this make it seem to be
That depends entirely on how deep you are. If you use Drive to store some personal files, then sure, you move your files to any alternative, install it as needed on your systems, and move on. If you frequently collaborate on Google Docs documents using hangouts and all of your contacts use your @gmail.com email address to communicate with you (whether by email or Hangouts), it gets really messy really fast. And then there are the services which, due to network effects or otherwise, don't have a real alternative yet; notice that this post talks about replacing YouTube with... alternative frontends to YouTube.
Agreed. This post seems like it's more about getting rid of proprietary software and replace it with free and open-source software,which admittedly is a lot harder.
Yea, my employer is on Google, it is impossible for me to transition out completely. Even though we would like to move out of Google, it is a herculean task since it is so deeply embedded into the organization. E.g., just having all your Google Docs with Google means there is no straightforward way to retain all the docs, along with all the links etc scattered around in emails, and be able to retain access permissions to the docs in any meaningful way. It is much easier to not get sucked in if you are starting a new company.
I mean, there is nothing to look at more than once. It was about 11GB in size. 6-7GB was photos, 1GB was drive.
I look at the old photos sometimes. The rest was just old mails, my location/steps walked/activity info, some YouTube videos I had liked and 2 comments. There was also some activity with Google Assistant
Interestingly, I found it extremely easy to delete my Google account. YouTube has RSS for subscriptions and youtube-dl/invidious exist. I never used Gmail. I never used drive.
Facebook on the other hand had my small group of friends that I talked to via messenger. I stopped using facebook but just couldn't get away from messenger until I finally made an ultimatum to my friends about switching to Signal. Now I have neither a facebook account nor a google account and surprise surprise my life isn't in shambles.
How about some generic "how to not buy into a single ecosystem that will maybe screw you one day".
Most important is a personality that prevents you from doing things just like everyone else or this urge to always use the newest tech because it is sexy.
Also important is to be able to feel more pain and to have to work more to achieve a solution that follows this rule and to accept this.
Using Google etc. products is easiest and only people who are strong willed enough and maybe have more skills in IT (pro user instead of average user) can really be free.
Then separate it into personal and work because in the first sector you have an own choice whereas in the second one you will have to comply most of the times.
Also: Storing stuff in proprietary systems which does not provide an export capability (using an open format) is a bad idea - always.
Every time I read one of these articles about cutting Google out, it becomes quickly apparent that the author uses the internet primarily as an entertainment or social platform which isn't my use case.
I'm old school, I use the internet as an information resource. As such good search results are paramount. Try as they might, but other search engines are nowhere as comprehensive as Googles. As long as I flex advanced search queries and ignore/adblock all the sponsored rubbish, Googles results always get me what I need, unlike any of the others. I can't see me switching away from Google search anytime soon.
I have never trusted cloud storage, so I'm not as deep into the Google infrastructure as most. I don't even use my Google account for email.
Primarily, people have enjoyed Googles services free for years, but now are suddenly saying 'omg, they are using my information for their own purposes!'. There's a very old saying 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth', which basically means if something is free, there WILL be a catch.
If having a large corporate spying on you and your data is really an issue, then pay for the same services from a smaller independent outfit. You'll be supporting smaller business, and as a paying customer have some recourse if they sell your data.
IF like me, ditching Google completely is not an option, then you can always mitigate the problem by installing an adBlocker (white-list those smaller sites!) and an automatic cookie eraser.
I realized that most of my searches are completely trivial. (Calculations, common sites, etc.) I switched from Google to DDG and told myself to just Google whenever a result isn't optimal. For me it's best of both worlds; Google searches are probably around 10%.
> There's a very old saying 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth', which basically means if something is free, there WILL be a catch.
Just a small nit-pick: I think the phrase is more about a lack of appreciation than the idea that every gift is necessarily flawed.
> Do not unappreciatively question a gift or handout too closely. [...] Related terms beggars can't be choosers
Its not so much about the removal of google for the sake of privacy for me. I think part of it is the way that google caters answers to you, and in a very weak way setting off your mind into a feedback loop of your own proclivities. We get developer version search results from google and that can be a good thing, but so do the flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers.
We are polarized in part because google has become omniscient, but when we go there seeking answers, we are told different things.
I also found it very difficult to DeGoogle. I've documented my efforts here: https://www.augmentedmind.de/2020/03/15/without-google-servi... (that article links to a companion article specifically for replacing Android apps made by Google). I'm fairly convinced that noone who reads these articles (mine included) will do anything that is written in them. Powered by laziness and "I don't care" syndrome :).
In the end, my practical recommendation is to just reduce the number of services - not necessarily get down to 0. You'd be at a loss. There is no good GMaps alternative (not in Germany anyways, the level of detail of the maps data and/or search results of any competitor is poor in comparison, including HERE WeGo or OSM). Same for web search / google.com. I have experienced many times that DDG/Startpage/Bing would not find what I was looking for, then I switched to Google, and found something relevant right on page 1.
Other services, especially those with standardized exchange-import/export formats are easier to migrate, though. For instance, GMail, including calendar and contacts sync, or using another provider for your files (GDrive).
> I'm fairly convinced that noone who reads these articles (mine included) will do anything that is written in them.
> noone
I already created few accounts on Mastodon servers to be ready out from Twitter circle (if Twitter would deeply go wild).
Google Search is now my 3rd search after DDG and StartPage.
In most cases, life without Google/Microsoft/Facebook/Twitter/etc. (or any other corporation) services is possible and there are plenty of replacements around the Internet (yet).
today I wanted to use google maps to get bicycle navigation to a particular café.
Searching in google maps, it gave me the right café in the top, I obviously expected the address/location/navigation, but all I got was info on how many times google meant I had been there before, other users photos, phone number, menu, website.
They aggregated so much infotmation that the map option itself drowned.
If google continue this way with their other services, it is not just people who wish to degoogle who will look for alternatives, it will also be people looking for better functionallity.
In the end, those services that are not open may be aquired. But I do think nonprofits also have a chance. (wikipedia seem to have found a strong brand, and signal is also getting traction)
Gmail. They have all my purchase history, finances, real estate details and what not. Updating emails across all third party services is super painful. If only there was an easier way.
2) If alternatives are not good enough, use Google's but don't login if you don't have to, and clear cookies between visits (cookie autodelete plugin helps with this).
3) If you have to log in, use a separate account for each service (multi-account containers plugin helps with this).
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[ 20.0 ms ] story [ 1147 ms ] threadIMO it's not as big of a deal to cut out one companies services as posts like this make it seem to be
Google has drive, YouTube, my old @gmail , plus recaptcha on every site.
Did you ever look at the export? Did you use it for anything useful?
I look at the old photos sometimes. The rest was just old mails, my location/steps walked/activity info, some YouTube videos I had liked and 2 comments. There was also some activity with Google Assistant
It had just chat (in a neat HTML format), photos posted and friends list.
The rest was useless info - liked posts, ads clicked on and instagram username
Facebook on the other hand had my small group of friends that I talked to via messenger. I stopped using facebook but just couldn't get away from messenger until I finally made an ultimatum to my friends about switching to Signal. Now I have neither a facebook account nor a google account and surprise surprise my life isn't in shambles.
Most important is a personality that prevents you from doing things just like everyone else or this urge to always use the newest tech because it is sexy.
Also important is to be able to feel more pain and to have to work more to achieve a solution that follows this rule and to accept this.
Using Google etc. products is easiest and only people who are strong willed enough and maybe have more skills in IT (pro user instead of average user) can really be free.
Then separate it into personal and work because in the first sector you have an own choice whereas in the second one you will have to comply most of the times.
Also: Storing stuff in proprietary systems which does not provide an export capability (using an open format) is a bad idea - always.
I'm old school, I use the internet as an information resource. As such good search results are paramount. Try as they might, but other search engines are nowhere as comprehensive as Googles. As long as I flex advanced search queries and ignore/adblock all the sponsored rubbish, Googles results always get me what I need, unlike any of the others. I can't see me switching away from Google search anytime soon.
I have never trusted cloud storage, so I'm not as deep into the Google infrastructure as most. I don't even use my Google account for email.
Primarily, people have enjoyed Googles services free for years, but now are suddenly saying 'omg, they are using my information for their own purposes!'. There's a very old saying 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth', which basically means if something is free, there WILL be a catch.
If having a large corporate spying on you and your data is really an issue, then pay for the same services from a smaller independent outfit. You'll be supporting smaller business, and as a paying customer have some recourse if they sell your data.
IF like me, ditching Google completely is not an option, then you can always mitigate the problem by installing an adBlocker (white-list those smaller sites!) and an automatic cookie eraser.
> There's a very old saying 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth', which basically means if something is free, there WILL be a catch.
Just a small nit-pick: I think the phrase is more about a lack of appreciation than the idea that every gift is necessarily flawed.
> Do not unappreciatively question a gift or handout too closely. [...] Related terms beggars can't be choosers
Src.: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/don%27t_look_a_gift_horse_in_...
We are polarized in part because google has become omniscient, but when we go there seeking answers, we are told different things.
In the end, my practical recommendation is to just reduce the number of services - not necessarily get down to 0. You'd be at a loss. There is no good GMaps alternative (not in Germany anyways, the level of detail of the maps data and/or search results of any competitor is poor in comparison, including HERE WeGo or OSM). Same for web search / google.com. I have experienced many times that DDG/Startpage/Bing would not find what I was looking for, then I switched to Google, and found something relevant right on page 1.
Other services, especially those with standardized exchange-import/export formats are easier to migrate, though. For instance, GMail, including calendar and contacts sync, or using another provider for your files (GDrive).
> noone
I already created few accounts on Mastodon servers to be ready out from Twitter circle (if Twitter would deeply go wild).
Google Search is now my 3rd search after DDG and StartPage.
In most cases, life without Google/Microsoft/Facebook/Twitter/etc. (or any other corporation) services is possible and there are plenty of replacements around the Internet (yet).
So, noone "minus" 1, at least.
They aggregated so much infotmation that the map option itself drowned.
If google continue this way with their other services, it is not just people who wish to degoogle who will look for alternatives, it will also be people looking for better functionallity.
In the end, those services that are not open may be aquired. But I do think nonprofits also have a chance. (wikipedia seem to have found a strong brand, and signal is also getting traction)
2) If alternatives are not good enough, use Google's but don't login if you don't have to, and clear cookies between visits (cookie autodelete plugin helps with this).
3) If you have to log in, use a separate account for each service (multi-account containers plugin helps with this).