In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, I did a lot of work in the Microsoft ecosystem, including subcontracting that put a substantial amount of my code in MS Office products (I’m sure it’s all gone now). Since then, I’ve gotten progressively more disillusioned with the big tech companies. I moved from Microsoft to Apple, and then to Linux. Lately I’ve been reducing my dependence on Google as much as possible, since it seems that their politics do not align well with my own.

It’s hard to distentangle from these companies, though. In particular my phone still runs Android, which (though I find it a better alternative to iOS) still sticks me firmly to Google. I’ve looked at FOSS alternatives but so far none of them seem to be good enough for my day-to-day use (I primarily need texting and GPS-enabled hiking maps), though Purism might be getting close.

I suspect the problem is that I’m just in too small of a niche. Most people who’ve gotten as fed up as I have are probably living off-grid in the woods.