Alternatives to tech megacorps and Advice for protecting yourself online!
Operating System: Cinnamon Mint Linux
While Linux retains a bit of a bad rep in usability and compatibility, The Cinnamon Flavor of the Mint distribution is friendly, familiar, and has most if not all the features you would want installed, installed in one nice package! No creepy command line terminal prompts required here!
Nor is there forced AI companions
Not to mention it works well with Steam- more on that later.
Or if you're more savvy, there are ways to customize what exactly gets installed with the operating system.
There is an easy to follow along guide for installation, a large community that can answer complicated tech questions
More to the point, software compatibility with Linux is at an all time high, thanks to Steam and their work on the Proton Compatibility layer
For the most part it's just download the installation file for windows like normal but making sure add it to your steam library via the "add non-steam game" option first. You don't even need any Steam games.
Link: Download Linux Mint and read the Installation Guide here!
Can't bring yourself to completely switch for one reason or another? Plenty of folks have made tools & tutorials for debloating Windows 11 including the AI stuff.
Discord-Like Chat Service: Matrix Protocol Via the Element Client
Roles with customizable permissions? Spaces instead of servers? Rooms instead of channels? Ability to turn on End to End Encryption? It's all here!
Think of End to End encryption like a digital decoder ring attached to the physical device. Your device encodes a message, sends it to another device which decodes the message. Servers the messages could be stored on? Anyone who could intercept the message? All they'd get is digital gibberish.
The Matrix Protocol is a way to chat with people, without it all being ran by only a single company while the Element Client is the cleanest way for the everyday person to use it!
Simply create an account via their web app, keep the web app open as you sign into/verify other installations. (This allows you to use the same decoder ring on more than one device, as Element has a downloadable version for Windows and Android as least)
Don't vibe with Element or have a device that doesn't support Element? There are several clients to choose from, for all sorts of devices! They all work with the same account! Crazy, huh?
If you are savvy enough you could even host things yourself!
Link: Create your account on the Element Web App that can be used on any Matrix Client here!
Photoshop: GIMP - GNU Image Manipulator
Free, Open source, available for Mac/Windows/Linux and no Adobe harvesting your data, scrapping it with AI and trapping you in a subscription
Link: Check out the GNU Image Manipulator here!
3D Modeling / Animation: Blender
Like the above! Free, open source, and available for a variety of systems. Plenty of tutorials out there to get you started!
Link: Check out Blender here!
There is always a choice, just some are more well hidden than others.
You don't always need your smart device on you
You don't need to be on social media
If you are annoyed by some tech thing, chances are you aren't the only one and that somebody smarter already created a solution and / or alternative
Not everything in your home needs to be "smart" or "AI"
Be mindful of what you post. You aren't born online, every bit of data you put out there is an intentional choice. You can choose what parts are / are not digitized
Peer to Peer file sharing (your computer directly to friends computer) isn't illegal, learn how to safely cut out the middle man
A lot of the programs I listed above might lack some polish you're used too or be a little more finicky to use. They're made by passionate people to be used, not sold for profit, and are available to us for free.
Used media is cheap, a library card is free
Buying music (CDs, MP3s) allows you to listen to it offline on devices not connected to the internet, and give more money to artists
Passion projects are real, their budget for marketing usually isn't
A band-aid over your laptop camera/mic will keep your lens safe but covered and the microphone muffled
Keep your passwords and other relevant information physically written down on a piece of paper stored in a safe location.
Buy a refillable visa gift card with cash to use for online purchases
Use Proton Mail for Government/Medical/School or anything that could have your real info in the e-mails/attachments
Use a separate email account with a fake name and [visa]gift card for all other accounts.
Make sure all accounts that don't need your real name, don't have your real name
Do not build your entire social life online
Build skills or hobbies offline, I play guitar.
Minimize the amount of devices in your home connected to the internet
Peer to Peer File sharing and a good old fashioned thumb drive/flash drive/USB stick to cut out whatever middle man of "the cloud" for storing and sharing data.
After set up, you can change the Microsoft account sign in to a local user account sign in
There are methods to de-google your phone
Delete everything off of, and close accounts you don't want. "But we know it isn't actually deleted!" Okay, and? Isn't deleting what you can better than not deleting anything?
Don't invite strangers into your safe digital spaces, create digital spaces just for strangers
This isn't a post for criminals, this is a post for people who feel hopeless in the current situations and out of their depth.
Even if you don't find anything useful in this post, please share it with friends or re-blog it, whatever, so more people can become aware that there is always an alternative.
Sincerely, a recovering cynic and reluctant artist
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