this post was submitted on 30 May 2026
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Highly recommend people leave Google services. Use Ente to store photos. Proton for email. DuckDuckGo or Ecosia for search. Organic Maps for directions. FreeTube or yewtu.be for videos. Venice AI as your advanced chatbot. Google needs to be broken up and regulated.
Other options:
does there exist anywhere a step-by-step tutorial for non-tech-savvy people to set up a self-hosted cloud storage? or is it something beginners shouldn't even mess with...
Depends on what you mean by non-tech savvy. Also depends on what you mean by cloud.
So, the simplest way to get something close to the dropbox experience is to use syncthing. Install it like you would any other program, and set it up (lots of videos and tutorials out there if you get stuck) this will then copy the folders you specify to all your connected devices. The problem is if you don't regularly have all your devices powered on and connected to the network at the same time then your best option is to have one machine left in a closet powered on and connected at all times so everything syncs smoothly and seamlessly.
Doing that you get a cloud of sorts without having to deal with servers in a traditional sense. It also requires no knowledge other than fairly basic computer skills.
This is cool and all, but it's limited to file sharing, to get more advanced features you need to start learning servers.
However, there have been several projects in the last few years to make having a personal cloud easier. In no particular order: Zima OS, Open Media Vault, Hex OS, Synology OS, Casa OS, True Nas Scale, Unraid. These are all operating systems you need to install on a spare computer and leave it on all the time, but they create a website at their IP you can visit that has something like an app store where you can just add services. There are lots of videos and articles about these to help you get started.
P. S. If you do start setting up a real server everything on it can be accessed at home without much issue, but to get it available when you aren't at home will require you to learn a bit about networking, and probably require you to get a domain name.
P.P.S. This whole system is easy enough for beginners to get started but becomes a deep pool of gotchas pretty quickly, be ready to learn there isn't a good just plug and play solution currently, one problem at a time you'll get there eventually. I have been mulling ways to make this whole thing easier for some time, eventually I suspect either myself or someone else will probably create a more plug and play project for home servers, but it's still the perview of tinkerers for now, and likely will be for at least the next 5 years.
thank you!
Never heard of Venice AI, asked it what it does different, one of the things it said was:
Fuck that shit
OsmAnd+ for mobile maps
I'm slowly working on getting away from Google, but unfortunately, Organic Maps doesn't offer public transit directions/schedules in my region, and since I don't have a car, that's like 80% of what I use Google Maps for.
Check out the apps from your local public transit authority. In my region what Google offers in regard to public transit is utter trash and the "official" apps are having the correct shedule
Check if CoMaps can work for you in your city. If you want a closed source app: Transit is amazing for bus and subway live arrival times
i never had gmail or used google search. but i dont save my info on anyone else's server anymore. i use nextcloud hosted on my server, i use immich for my photos. calibre server for my books. everything is mine
Youre not wrong at all but I've found people won't deal with the slightest inconvenience. Quite sad.