Ever feel like...
this?
I have to put all the above babies to bed at a decent hour tonight, so~
~I’ve been using LibreOffice as an alternative to google docs or microsoft office for all my document needs. The program was created through a non-profit run by free software advocates. They were inspired by the work of OpenOffice, which eventually made its way under Oracle’s wing of acquisitions. It doesn’t have collaborative features (yet?!), though I enjoy creating in an offline environment and don’t need that feature currently.
~Firefox has been my main browser for a long time, and I love the work coming out of Mozilla Foundation. Their commitment to privacy and an open internet is impressive.
~Lastly, I use duckduckgo for searches and have started to play with startpage. Sometimes I’ll check the same query across a few search engines because there are inevitable differences. It wasn’t an easy transition to make because I was so accustomed to how Google delivers information, how it ranks, what types of sites are given front page real estate.
While I do believe there is so much good that comes from big tech companies, moving into alternative digital spaces that are rooted in open source philosophy, non-profit models and communal co-creation are as important as ever to me.
I think about energetic divestment often…how and where can I start to reapply my energy toward helpful structures and systems (digitally and non), and do so without wholly compromising my ability to be a functional human in a tech-forward society?
Could we possibly have data-rich and data-poor people stratified into new forms of privilege and oppression? Or is that already happening? I guess my hope is to find small and safe ways to not pull away, but push toward equitable digital co-habitation.
We don’t live in a world where hackers are celebrities… they’re usually villains in real life and fictional heroes in films. But what about a soft-hack? A tender tech transgression? That’s kind of what choices for new software and hardware feel like to me right now.
It’s exciting to spend time, care, research effort hunting for the right outfit. To try on a slinky new browser, download a bootleg PDF and read under a warm f.lux glow. Test run a soft-touch key pad, invest in something clunky that won’t breathe heavy on your lap, that loves it when you leave a bunch of open-source tabs open and walk away. No trackers, no spyware…pure privacy. It’s a wild idea, but I’m leaning IN.