Big Tech spies on you. Big Tech manipulates you. Big Tech treats you like a product instead of like a human being.
Let's face it... Big Tech sucks.
What follows are my current recommendations -- as for June, 2021 -- for replacing some of the most prominent Big Tech services and software platforms.
Note: I know there are others. These are the ones I recommend. And I recommend each for their own, individual reasons. Feel free to disagree with my list. That's your freedom.
There are a few "YouTube Alternative" video sharing platforms out there. Some have good qualities. But only one of them hits all the right marks for me: Odysee.
Odysee is built on top of the LBRY network. And LBRY, itself, is a blockchain-y, Crypto-y, uncensor-y platform for sharing all sorts of content. Videos, blogs, images, and the like.
I publish nearly all of my content to Odysee (and, hence, LBRY) and it works like a charm. Lots of open source. Doesn't treat users like cattle. Can't go wrong.
Lots of email services out there. The one I have enjoyed using the most is, without question, Kolab Now.
It's a paid email service. Doesn't advertise to you or sell your data. Built on open source parts. Easy to back up and self-host (if you should want to).
I find paying a small fee for a high quality email service that doesn't spy on me to be well worth it.
My current favorite search engine is Startpage. With DuckDuckGo right behind it.
But I'm also hearing great things about the upcoming Brave Search. Once that gets out of Beta I'm eager to see how well it'll work for me as my primary search engine.
Sure, you can replace Facebook or Twitter with an open, federated system like Mastodon (and "The Fediverse" )... but... why? It's almost as bad. Worse in some ways.
I say nuke the entire idea of a network like Twitter from orbit. We, as humans, were not meant to communicate with 5 Million strangers -- with 99.9999% not knowing or caring who you are -- at all times. It just doesn't work.
If you need a social network -- and there's nothing wrong with that -- I recommend smaller, focused groups. Locals-based social networks are the way to go.
Patreon has some funky policies. And they've censored some people in seriously uncool ways. But the core idea is a good one: subscribe to and support independent creators. Podcasts, authors, artists, developers. This is good stuff! If only Patreon weren't so stinkin' yucky.
Locals. Locals is the way to go here, too. Lots of community options, no crazy censorship.
Dropbox. Google Drive. Microsoft One Driveinator (or whatever it's called). And there's Apple's thing. Used to be called iDrive (part of their .Mac / iTools suite).
Anyway, all of them are owned by Big Tech and have funky policies.
If you have data to store, you deserve to have control over that data. Keep away prying eyes... and make you responsible for, well, your own stuff.
Nextcloud -- preferably self-hosted -- is the way to go. Though there are some great Nextcloud hosting options out there as well. While those don't give you as much control as self-hosting... they're also a lot easier. And, honestly, are wildly more powerful and private than the Big Tech online storage options.
Don't use Microsoft Office. I used to work on Microsoft Office. And, let me tell ya, it's not what it used to be.
Need spreadsheets and presentation tools? The answer is simple.
LibreOffice. Just use LibreOffice.
Looking to replace Windows or macOS? If you'd asked me two years ago, I would have said "Use Linux."
Nowadays? In 2021? There are some concerns there.
But Linux is still a better way to go. Regardless of which Linux distribution you choose. Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, PCLinuxOS... all great.
Rejoice! Pat yourself on the back! You are now quite a bit more private, your data quite a bit more secure. There are now less companies treating you like cattle. Your humanity, at least partially, restored!
You bet! Tons of 'em!
But, think of it like this...
You don't need to eat 100% healthy for every meal... in order to get the benefits of eating a few veggies at dinner.
The GNOME Foundation is using claimed financial support of LibXML2 as a reason people should donate to GNOME. Only one problem: The LibXML2 dev was forced to abandon the project due to lack of support from GNOME.
More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/
Following his criticism of their lawsuit against Vizio, the Linux creator says the Software Freedom Conservancy "is trying to further an agenda", & "is a racket, plain and simple".
More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/
After receiving an Al generated email, the programming legend (known for his work on Go, Plan 9, UNIX, & UTF-8) says, "F**k you people. Raping the planet."
More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/
Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.
It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.
Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm
Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
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Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.
Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣
Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm
Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
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Stewart Cheifet Obituary December 28, 2025 - Goldsteins Funeral
https://obits.goldsteinsfuneral.com/stewart-cheifet
SamTime's 2025 list of top mobile tech fails.
https://odysee.com/@samtime:14/the-biggest-tech-fails-of-2025:3
The “$89 Lifetime Subs, 50% Off Monthly/Yearly Subs” deal ends at the stroke of Midnight on New Years Eve.
When the calendar ticks over to 2026, a little over a day from now, subscription prices for The Lunduke Journal go back to normal.
https://lunduke.substack.com/p/89-lifetime-subs-50-off-monthly-all
Woah!
The end of December is almost here!
That means the “$89 Lifetime Lunduke Journal Subscription” deal is about to end!
When the ball drops on New Years Eve, and the calendar clocks over to 2026, the Lifetime Subscription price goes back to normal.
So, you know, grab one before that darn ball drops! (Then check out all of the Lunduke Journal Subscriber Perks.)
Because that deal is re-DONK-u-lous.
-Lunduke
Two quick tidbits on this glorious Sunday:
Lifetime Subscriptions to The Lunduke Journal are currently discounted to $89. For life. Which is… insane. That’s less than 1/3rd of the regular price.
Monthly and Yearly subscriptions are 50% off. Which is also pretty darned snazzy.
On Tuesday I will be recording a long-overdue episode of “Lunduke’s Nerdy Q&A”.
Got questions you’d like asked in the show? No guarantees, but I’ll get to as many as I can!
Retro computing. Current computer news. Ridiculous hypotheticals. Any question is fair game... just make sure it’s good and nerdy.
To make it simple for me, there are two ways you can submit questions for this week’s Q&A:
Add a comment to this thread on Forum.Lunduke.com.
Reply to this thread over on X.
Ok. I lied. There are three ways. You can also reply to this post, right here, on Locals.
Note: Only Lunduke Journal subscribers can access to Forum.Lunduke.com. All of the details on how to gain access are on the Lunduke Journal Subscriber Perks page.
-Lunduke
Time for some Fun Lunduke Journal Facts of Fact-ly-ness!
The “per-month” cost of a Lifetime Subscription to The Lunduke Journal is an asymptotic line. The longer you have that subscription, the closer it gets to $0.00.
The Lifetime Subscription was first introduced 3 1/2 years ago… and is still going strong.
The price of a Lifetime Subscription is currently discounted to $89. For life. That’s less than 1/3rd the normal price.
The earlier you pick one up, the quicker that asymptotic line begins approaching zero. Which is fun.
If you think you might ever want a Lifetime Subscription, now is the time.
Imagine missing this discounted price and missing out on months of, mathematically certain, asymptotic line fun. This is one of those scenarios where Future You (tm) would want to travel back in time to tell Present You (tm) to snag a Lifetime Subscription.
Go. Grab the Lifetime Subscription for $89. That deal is good all December long.
There’s a video of me yammering about it too. Just for good measure.
You’re welcome.
-Lunduke
