I follow this interesting group on Signal. They are interested in self-hosting. I have advocated Freedombox there. They have asked me to provide introductory information so that their group, many of whom are non-techies, can consider it.
I want to post a short list of links that people can check out in addition to the Freedombox website, to their discussion forum.
Suggestions for items I should point them to are welcome.
Thank you @KenW !
Yes, FreedomBox is the excellent recommendation 
Personally I switched as much as I could to open source. Therefore I use Linux Mint on all our computers and Murena /e/OS on our Mobiles. Murena /e/OS is a deGoogled Android OS.
Here clickable link: https://www.techreclaimers.club/
Based on the available information, Tech Reclaimers (associated with
techreclaimers.club) was co-founded by Janet Vertesi, a sociologist and professor known for her work on technology and society, and the activist Fedicon (Sean Tilley).They launched the initiative as a social movement focused on building alternatives to corporate-controlled technology, often emphasizing open standards, privacy, and community ownership. They are also associated with the OptOut Project (
optoutproject.net), which advocates for the right to disconnect from digital surveillance and corporate data collection.
This is the way.
I’ve somewhat degoogled but have an Android phone. Sometime in the not too distant future, I’ll be getting a GrapheneOS phone. Kind of a kicker that they’re all google pixel phones but ironically, that seems to be the model that’s easiest to degoogle and secure.
Only other thing is wanting to comment on a youtube video but I can live without that.
If it’s free, you are the product.
That works on a grand scale too. My ISP made the switch from DSL to fiber optic recently. I called wanting my router password reset and she had no clue how to do it. I know for a fact that they were required to bring in union workers to run the fiber. A rural MO county became the customer for a union up North as required by FedGov. I feel so free.
It was all paid for by a federal grant, with stipulations. I imagine they were given a list of fiber modems to choose from. It has a Smart Town feature where people nearby can get wifi from the closest router if they’ve joined Smart Town.
I live in the boonies against a National Forest. There’s no one walking around needing wifi on their phone. My house is too far off the road to get a wifi signal. Same thing for 90% of the people in the county. I opted out and had it turned off in the router.
BIG is bad. BIG government, BIG corporations. Neither can be trusted to do the right thing. Now it’s moving to “public/private partnerships” aka BIG+BIG corporatocracy. Control+Profit.
AI, data centers, a gazillion cameras. I went to deflock dot org and found out there’s a Flock camera near me, out in the boonies, on the lot of the volunteer fire station. Aside from some meth heads, there’s no crime out here. Why the surveillance state tool? Required by that Rural Broadband funding?
Detaching from all this stuff is a growing movement. Unfortunately, a lot of it is being driven by youtubers making a killing off of amazon affiliate links. Three million views. That’s BIG.
I’ll stick with old open source that’s been running the web since it started.
I agree, keeping things simple and using open-source tools can give you much more control over your privacy and data. It’s definitely something more people are starting to think about.
