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10.12.2024
Decentralised, DeGoogled & Delighted

I've gone all out recently in an attempt to eradicate all forms of Big Tech and proprietary software from my life and the result has been surprisingly positive. My first step was about a year ago when I switched all my existing Windows systems over to Linux. Initially I only decided to install Linux Mint on a failing laptop just to see how far Linux had come since I last used it about 25 years ago (Mandrake I think it was) and I was blown away by how well the machine started functioning without Microsoft fucking everything up. This led me down a rabbit hole, installing Mint on my main desktop and girlfriend's PC before revitalising an almost twenty year old computer (that I use for playing music in my shed) with the lightweight distribution LXLE. On every occasion each machine started functioning way better than I could have ever anticipated.

Next on the agenda was to start fucking around with Raspberry Pis. About two months ago I build an ADSB live aircraft tracker (a sort of home personal radar system) and can now pick up planes flying overhead up to 180 Nautical Miles away - and all from a silly little rubber duck aerial that sticks out of a receiver dongle connected to the Raspberry Pi on my window sill. What the hell else can I do with these little single board computers, I thought to myself? So I bought another Pi (the model 5 this time) and turned it into a NAS/media server. With the discovery of Tailscale I can now access my files securely wherever I get a phone or wifi signal.

Which led me down another rabbit hole? With all this security conscious computing going on, what in the wild world of sports do I do about this Google Android phone in my pocket? It was the weakest and most vulnerable link in the whole system, and after running a DNS sinkhole on it, I confirmed my worst fear: Google are unashamedly spying on everything you do.

Time to deGoogle.

I tried removing everything Google-related on my Moto E7 mobile but things got fucky when I attempted uninstalling Google Play Services. Nothing would play ball... the entire system seemed to rely on it. Fortunately, the phone was on its last legs (having to twiddle around with the worn out USB-C connector just to get the damn thing to charge every night) so I bit the bullet and bought a brand new Moto G32.

I have to confess I was reluctant about attempting to flash the ROM with an alternative OS on a brand spanking new phone, but after performing first boot just to get into Developer Options, I realised it had to be done. The phone was virtually unusable with all the bloatware bundled up with it. So, one night, whilst a little drunk it has to be added, I followed the instructions as meticulosly as a drunk person could do, and voila, CalyxOS was now running my phone.

It's fucking genius! Hell, I'm a fucking genius. Why did I not do this before? A phone that actually works and comes bundled with a bunch of security features instead of a bunch of data mining, ad-infested, privacy extractors? Incredible!

If a drunk guy can flash a phone then anyone can, and so my point is this: you've got nobody to blame but yourselves if you don't deGoogle.