Hey everyone,
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to help my parents reduce their reliance on American Big Tech (Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, etc.). They’re not tech-savvy, and I don’t want to overwhelm them or make them feel like I’m forcing a radical change. At the same time, I’m concerned about privacy, data collection, and the monopolistic practices of these companies.
Any ideas? First of all I thought about ecosia, I see that it returns more similar results to google than Qwant.
I want to buy them Threema licence.
I installed Le Chat as chatgpt replacement, moved some documents to Synology Nas
What’s next?
Had to look this up, but there is this saying that might help you:
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
This is a tricky thing to do. I’d say start with yourself. On your journey you will find what could be interesting to which family member. All of them doesn’t have to migrate at the same time with the same product.
Small steps is always easier to take.
Agree with @huppakee@piefed.social comment here about the importance of setting a north star and seeing the big picture.
I started idcaboutprivacy for exactly this. It’s an open source repository of articles and discussions to surface the importance of privacy how it affects our lives.
I’ve found that connecting the offline to the online is really helpful in translating concepts and answering the “Why should I care?” question.
On a more tactical level, I like to start off recommending Privacy Guides. Though not everyone agrees with 100% of their software recommendations, it’s a really solid starting point, and they also provide justifications for each one.
This journey that you wanna put your parents on is also endless, and we gotta adjust as necessary as things change. It’ll never be static. So consider that. Stay lean, open minded, and willing to adapt when necessary.
I say Linux first.
My mom relies on office documents. We wanted replace office with libreoffice and that was painful for her :(
I gave her laptop with libreoffice and she still prefered to use old laptop with old office license
If you want no friction you could just ||pirate ms office 2021 ltsc|| or similar?
Yeah that’s tough. Libreoffice is definitely not polished. Two solutions, 1) you can fiddle with the settings to make it look and act more like MS office . With the ribbon instead of the drop-down etc. 2) You can run old office versions for free using Wine. From what I hear, haven’t done it myself.
Focus on the future, not the past.
Let your parents live like they used to, since they are probably not really impacted much anyway (until we are all impacted). Focus on teaching your kids who a) understand tech much more and b) will teach the next generations.
They are impacted more than you think. My mom uses chat gpt more often than I did.
Facebook, messenger, google as default browser and search engine. Even when she search for something she chooses „google” app instead of browser Google Chrome- so its harder to switch her to ecosia ;)
I see how much crap my dad and mom watch from facebook stories. Misinformation is on the other level there… (talking from Poland perspective, we have russian propaganda in our socials)
Is the problem the content or the platform? I thought it was the platform because crap content can be found everywhere, even in the non-US platforms. But I mean, as average people, what benefit do they have from switching their life? You would feel better, but what about them?
I explained the whole tech thing to my old dad who has an iPhone and an iPad and such. I didn’t tell him he should shift to non-american tech, I just reminded him that while he wants to boycott American products in the stores, he must be aware that the places where a boycott matters is also the places where a boycott is the most difficult. Getting our governments to stop investing in American weapons and American an tech. Us stopping investing in American tech in private and stop using American websites and software. X, Y and Z are American websites, software or tech.
I told him I would be looking into getting myself a European phone next time and I tried to explain what Linux was - despite not being anywhere close to knowledgeable about it myself lol.
I think it gave him something to think about, but I don’t expect him to change immediately. But I know that he might reach out to me if he needs a new device at some point.
I think that is the best method, honestly. Just plant the seeds in their heads, let them think about it over time, give them the information your can and be available if/when they reach out 🤗
I’m gonna install linux xcfe on my grandma’s laptop from 2014, windows 10 reached end of life anyway.
So my grandparents had somehow signed up for a free trial of office or 365 or whatever. They ended up getting locked put of opening documents because they didn’t want to give the computer their credit card. I was able to fairly easily convince them that Libre office was the was to go. They were pretty thrilled.
I’m thinking of giving them a linux PC to try out at some point as they mostly use it for Facebook and excel spreadsheets anyway.
Switching to Signal for family group chat is an easy move, as it’s the same user experience than Whatsapp. Note: it’s american but not GAFAM (open source and non-profit).
