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  • Jon S. von Tetzchnerjon@vivaldi.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:34 PM

    For a long time we have made our selves gradually more and more dependent on Big Tech. This applies when it comes to operating system, to browsers, to various services, to storage and now when it comes to AI.

    More and more are realizing this was and is wrong.

    You can take the first steps to be independent as a person or company. Obviously, given that you are here, you have already taken some steps. Here are some suggestions:

    1. Switch browser... to Vivaldi. :)
    2. Switch desktop OS. Personally I have switched to Linux. Currently running Kubuntu, Ubuntu and Zorin on different computers.
    3. Switch mail service. Proton and Fastmail are good services, but there are others. Choose one that allows use of a mail client.
    4. Switch calendar service. Most mail services also offer a calendar service.
    5. Switch office package. Personally I use LibreOffice.
    6. Switch Web conferencing software. Personally I use Whereby.
    7. Switch search. Startpage, Ecosia, Qwant and DDG are great alternatives.

    There are a lot of other great choices. The point is to start taking those steps away from Big Tech and Silicon Valley.

    #Windows #Linux #Apple #MacOS #BigTech #Politics #Technology #Vivaldi

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Replies

  • Cristian Rasch 🇦🇷 🇺🇾cristianrasch@fosstodon.org
    Oct 14, 2026, 4:48 PM

    @jon I'm 95% with you Jon, with a few notable exceptions. Truly great as #Vivaldi is, until the day there's a suitable alternative (i.e. not different profiles) to Firefox's multi-account containers, I'll be sticking with #Firefox, because that feature it's just too critical to my workflow. I also much prefer running straight #Debian (stable) on all my systems and favor the #noai DDG alternative [noai.duckduckgo.com/] over their stock offering. Been a Fastmail customer for more than a decade.

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  • Marcallezhub@vivaldi.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:07 PM

    @jon
    Midagu Micro account.

    $19/year gives unlimited mailboxes. There's a limit: 20 out and 200 in mails, but more than enough for the average family.

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  • Rihards Olupsrichlv@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:37 PM

    @jon Love the vibe, but there’s this… chromed elephant in the room :)
    Wouldn’t somebody switching from Firefox take a step back?

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  • Jon S. von Tetzchnerjon@vivaldi.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:47 PM

    @richlv

    Obviously if you ask me, I would say no.

    Webkit and Chromium have their infancy in Europe. It started off in many ways in a building where Opera and Trolltech resided. There is a lot of history there, which takes longer to explain, but I think a strong Vivaldi, based on Chromium, can make a big difference. I say that based on my experience fighting Big Tech over more than 32 years now.

    Mozilla is a Silicon Valley creature. Better than Google, Apple and Microsoft for sure, but if you want to get away from that, there really is only one option.

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  • Rihards Olupsrichlv@mastodon.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 7:41 PM

    @jon Oh, I'm well aware of the meaning of KHTML in many browser UAs, and both happy to see it and sad that the project was not contributed to but forked :)

    Would uBlock Origin work in Vivaldi, or would Vivaldi be completely at the mercy of Google regarding things they do with Chrome/Chromium?

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  • Jon S. von Tetzchnerjon@vivaldi.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 8:35 PM

    @richlv

    I think you will find that things are somewhere in the middle. We have kept uBlock Origin running, but there is likely a limit there. We do plenty of changes to Chromium in general and with more resources we can do more. Vivaldi is a very different browser to Chrome, even though compatibility is more or less the same. This applies to privacy and to the functionality on offer.

    A strong Vivaldi can do even more and thus we work on building Vivaldi.

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  • Nicole ParsonsNpars01@mstdn.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 5:41 PM

    @jon

    One of the things that is very noticeable is the enshittification & deterioration of google search.

    URL's easily found 2 years ago, now can't be found at all. Only copy/paste of a direct link address works.

    Is this what happens to all companies contaminated by fossil fuel investment?

    bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

    "Why is Google Search so bad nowadays?

    Google Search has changed from a neutral discovery tool into an ad-driven platform dominated by monetization and artificial intelligence"

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  • Piemishandlingboners@vivaldi.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 6:23 PM

    @jon

    Thoughts on tutamail? I <3 tutamail

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  • Jon S. von Tetzchnerjon@vivaldi.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 6:32 PM

    @mishandlingboners

    Personally I prefer mail services that use POP and IMAP, so I can use the mail client of my choice and access all of my emails from one place. The beauty of email was always that it allows that.

    Tuta is otherwise not a bad service, but I wish they allowed IMAP and POP.

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  • Piemishandlingboners@vivaldi.net
    Oct 14, 2026, 6:45 PM

    @jon

    I'm not the most tech savvy :/

    Just finished reading a few articles about it because I just didn't know what that was but I understand it now!!

    I guess I just haven't noticed it doesn't have that because I never used it in the first place.

    To each their own :D

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  • Mayaskyblitz@ieji.de
    Oct 14, 2026, 6:38 PM

    @jon ah yeah VIVALDI you use big tech CDN 🙄

    LIAR

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  • Mayaskyblitz@ieji.de
    Oct 14, 2026, 9:28 PM

    @Nead @jon typical of fanboy...

    i raise a concern, and of course you make ad hominem by calling the other one troll.

    blocked

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  • Ryan Lounsburyryanl@twit.social
    Oct 14, 2026, 11:03 PM

    @jon I am an early adopter of Mozilla's Thundermail which is an excellent platform even if it has some growing pains. But it is improving regularly.

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