Individual Uses for OSS/Alt Tech

20 Jun, 2023

When it comes to picking open source software and alternative tech its easy to get slightly overwhelmed with the sheer number of options out there. The information about anti-tracking and privacy features can be confusing to those who are simply looking for an alternative to big tech software and hardware. In this post I would like to clarify and classify some of these ideas to the best of my ability.

Setting Up a 'Degoogled' Phone

1. Buy a Degoogled Phone

• Alternatively you can install Lineage OS or Graphene OS manually. There are guides online to do this but make sure to watch them thoroughly

2. Install F-Droid for open source Apps

• You can install the Aurora store to continue using apps on the Playstore without a Google account

Finding FOSS for specific applications

1. Use sites such as alternativeto and sourceforge to find free open source software

• If you are an artist you can find alternatives to paid software like photoshop

2. Install open source alternatives and gradually switch over to them

• Be patient and try out different things until you find what you like

For Private Messaging

1. Open source apps have the advantage of anyone being able to check the code and see if anything unusual is going on with it. To coin a new phrase: "If it glows everyone knows."

• Therefore you can only assure privacy when using an open source messaging app. If the software is closed source its very difficult to know what has been done with it.

Making Your Own Path

1. If you can't find any software or hardware to suit your needs you'll have to do the work yourself:

• Learning how to make forks of apps and publishing them for others or keeping them for personal use
• Installing Lineage OS or Graphene OS as mentioned earlier
• Modifying the hardware of your device so it doesn't communicate as much information (More on this in another post)

Step by step you can reclaim your tech freedom!