You can’t escape Google. At least, that’s how it seems.
The company doesn’t just dominate search. It also has its tendrils in personal storage, online productivity tools, books, music, social networking, and more. Billions of people the world over use their services because of the convenience and power.
The flip side? Google, and other online providers like them, collect a massive amount of data about you and your online habits, and it isn't always clear what companies do with that all that data. This is causing more people to look for alternatives to these "free" tools, but many don’t know where to find them.
Framasoft[1], a non-profit network dedicated to the global promotion of free (as in free speech) software and culture[2], wants to help people de-Googlize their online lives.
Thanks to the miracle that’s Etherpad[3], I was able to sit down (virtually) with the team from Framasoft to learn more about what they do and why they do it.
Answers by Framasoft members: bnjbvr, fredurb1, Genma, goofy, Pouhiou, and framasky[4][5][6][7][8]
Scott Nesbitt: Tell us about the idea behind Framasoft.
Framasoft: Framasoft puts many hosted free and open source services and innovative projects at the disposal of the general public to highlight alternatives to free services owned by corporations [whose] business model is surveillance capitalism. In addition to installing those free tools to present them as respectful alternatives, we wrote documentation explaining how to use them, even if you don’t have any technical background, as well as how to install them on your own servers.
Framasoft is also an invitation to work together