Thanks so much for all the additional info. The inclusion of donation based platforms and some products that are just degrees of removal from big corps rather than totally free of them were some my primary concerns. Thanks for all the details!

Also how can you have a section on books and library access without mentioning Libby is a shame. The apps carries so much weight as far as bridging the gap between public libraries and primarily digital customers.

While this seems like a decent starting point I’ve got a few issues with this list. As others have mentioned there is little in the way of justification for these suggestions, and while I happen to agree with plenty of them, I’d personally like to see more reasoning, if not to appease people that already have opinions then to help newer users understand their options.

On the topic of newer users I think an aggregate list like this should include a basic rundown on what adoption/migration/onboarding looks like for these services. Demystifying that process can lift a lot of the perceived weight non-“power users” might feel when faced with the leap from corporate platforms.

Overall I think this is a good resource, and at least gives people some starting points, but it’s not without its flaws.

Yeah, I’ve largely figured out how to change all these settings from configs for myself, just always on the lookout for a nice gui. I’m slowly working to make a Linux experience I can install for my relatives that makes the transition from crapware Windows relatively painless.

Ah, so being on Hyprland means I can’t really gain access to this, right?

I’m using Wayland, where do I find this settings gui?

It’s the first one I encountered, so I’m not sure. The 2 times I’ve rebooted since I’ve gotten the simple hyprland glowing logo one. Kinda bummed I’m not getting the cute ones anymore :(

As of now I ran moonlight on Windows, so I might not be able to help a ton. I just started my own Arch (by the way) install that I plan to revisit getting moonlight running on, but I’m not even at a desktop environment yet.

I’ve found using software meant for gaming often works better for this application. My personal choice is moonlight. I run it behind Tailscale so my connections never leave my devices. Even over cellular it’s snappy enough for non gaming tasks, and if I need to check on my dailies in a game or something similar, it handles that much better than any Remote Desktop product. I messed around with rust desk and could never get it quite working and didn’t feel comfortable using the public servers at the time. So I swapped to moonlight and it serves me well.

Games on Whales is a containerized version of moonlight that I struggled to get working as well, but I thinks that’s because I’m a docker beginner.

Loool, that’s hardware level. Comes with the monitor. I keep it on when drawing mostly and just general awareness of the middle of my screen is nice. In most games it honestly isn’t that great because it’s pretty big. Covers up the reticle’s of a lot of games.

trans fem, currently they/them but leaning she/they. Maybe by the end of the install it’ll just be she/her

There is actually a little collection of chairs on my art wall. They are various Eames chairs. Designed by a somewhat famous couple, Ray and Charles Eames.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eames_Lounge_Chair

Wow yeah, now you say that I’m not sure if it’s just in the camera or I’ve truly never noticed. It’s quite bad.

It sure is!! I wasn’t sure how prolific the HP reclaiming was, so I only included Minecraft, but I’m glad she’s been given the credit she deserves for her writing.

Syncthing and KoReader. I also have a few android eink devices and this system works great for me. When I need a better interface for organizing/editing metadata of files I use calibre which also has some plugins to help free your files from proprietary epub readers.

Look up Syncthing and then never stop trying to replace closed source and paid software/services. Like any time you launch something ask yourself “does this hit the same way as when I swapped to Syncthing?” If the answer is no you then put “[name of thing you want to replace] foss alternative” into your search engine of choice. You’ll end up down so many rabbit holes, but you’ll come out the other side a whole lot better at making your technology work for you, not the company that made it, and with a suite of free open sourced tools you are in complete control of.

Here are some tools I use that are super easy to get going.

• Syncthing (cloud storage replacement)
• KeepassXC or Pass if you’re a command line person (locally stored password manager, coupled with Syncthing you have your own private cloud password manager
• Tailscale/wireguard (private VPN that allows you to easily connect all your devices without exposing any of the traffic to The Internet)
• PiHole (a DNS sinkhole that blocks a lot of ads and tracking on your entire network, bonus points if you set it as you Tailscale DNS provider to give all your devices ad block no matter where you are as long as the device was a connected to Tailscale)

Those are the ones that got me going and I personally believe act as a solid core. Most people will find all of those useful. Other services are more user specific, but that’s a lightweight bundle of software that your RPi will handle well. Much more and you might want to look at beefier hardware.

Okay, lots of other comments I didn’t read, and this might have been mentioned.

👏Syncthing👏

You mentioned OneDrive. I also jumped around storage solutions as I explored the FOSS world, and nothing hold a candle to Syncthing (in my opinion, but I want/need to try nextCloud). I won’t drone on about it, but if you’re looking to ditch another big data company that’s probably scraping your files, check out Syncthing

I’m both an iOS and Android user for various reasons. There is a free KeePass front end for iOS, but I paid a one time lifetime license for one that was a little more feature rich. That and the only version of Syncthing for iOS requires a like $4 purchase to allow you to sync folders outside of its default location, which was a pretty necessary feature for me.

Yup. Same system here. I really like it.

I do keypassXC and Syncthing. It’s cross platform with only a couple bucks needed for lifetime access to all all necessary features depending on platform. Besides I use Syncthing for a bunch of other stuff as well, so it fits right into my flow. I’m considering moving to a command line tool simply called Pass, and still syncing with Syncthing, but I’ve yet to pull the trigger on that switch yet.

Thanks so much!! Seems like a cool service. Reminds me of popcorn time, which I don’t think works anymore. Are you still routing all your traffic through a VPN when using that? Seems like a privacy nightmare should any action be taken against those companies.