switching.software

Ethical, easy-to-use and privacy-conscious alternatives to well-known software

website: https://switching.software
issue tracker: https://codeberg.org/swiso/website/issues
under the auspices of: https://datenpunks.de

Last Notes

2026-05-25 13:46:52 CEST

Surprise: @npub19kd…t56d wants us to add tracking links to our website. That is an odd suggestion coming from a “privacy” company. Should we take their bribe?
We get a lot of weird suggestions by e-mail but only one company (#nordvpn) tried to bribe us before: https://fedifreu.de/@switchingsoftware/114223190053914164
#proton #protonmail #protontracking #tracking #affiliateMarketing #pricacy #privacywashing
https://fedifreu.de/system/media_attachments/files/116/635/046/084/008/117/original/e6aea29053c25b22.png

2026-05-22 15:19:20 CEST

2025-04-03 12:58:56 CEST

This is how to disable the new “AI” chatbot in #Firefox:<li>type <code>about:config</code> into the awesome bar</li><li>skip the warning for first time modders</li><li>locate the <code>browser.ml.chat.enabled</code> setting and set it to <code>false</code></li>
In the #Librewolf fork, a thoughtful person has already done this for you.
(HT to @npub1g6j…4s5g for the hint!)
#genAI #chatbot #bullshitgenerator #llm #dontCallItAI

2025-03-24 19:55:06 CET

- reply

Codeberg Pages seems to be in trouble: https://status.codeberg.eu/status/codeberg
Maybe another DDoS attack?
/cc @npub1fh7…ee83

2025-03-24 15:06:55 CET

**HostEurope,** a formerly European web and e-mail hosting provider acquired by GoDaddy in 2016, just informed its customers that it will move their IMAP folders and everything e-mail to Microsoft's **MS365** offer.
This move does not only incur additional fees for many customers – it also raises privacy concerns.
We recommend you empty all of your IMAP folders now and move your e-mail (domains) to one of the trustworthy e-mail services listed here: https://switching.software/replace/gmail/
Trademarks used by HostEurope Group include 123-reg, Webfusion, Heart Internet, BrandFortress, Host Europe, Domainbox, Domainmonster, Domainfactory, DonHost, Sign-Up.to, velia.net and RedCoruna. Their users might also be affected.
#HostEurope #GoDaddy #Microsoft #MS365

2025-03-21 10:31:27 CET

Why we currently do not recommend the @npub1feu…kh5l Mastodon client:<li>it's not <a href="https://fedifreu.de/tags/opensource" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>opensource</span></a> let alone <a href="https://fedifreu.de/tags/FLOSS" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>FLOSS</span></a></li><li>it's only available from Google's Play store</li><li>it contains trackers (<a href="https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/575228/#trackers" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Google Crashlytics and Google Firebase Analytics</a>)</li><li>it wants access to your <a href="https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/social.rodent/latest/#permissions" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">ad ID</a></li>
In short, this app is against the spirit of Mastodon and the Fediverse. There are plenty of Mastodon apps that respect you: @npub18wv…53pp, Fedilab (@npub14kx…urew), @npub1rx6…pdar …
#Mastodon #Rodent #Android #App #AlternativeTo #Alternative

2025-03-16 18:00:27 CET

Finally, a new revision of https://switching.software has appeared, incorporating lots of hints we received via our [issue tracker](https://codeberg.org/swiso/website/issues ).
What's more important: We finally got Woodpecker CI working with Codeberg Pages – which means that from now on, all changes to the main branch will appear on the website immediately. We no longer need to run Hugo on a local computer.
tl;dr: Changes will become visible more quickly now.

2024-09-04 17:57:04 CEST

Yesterday we successfully moved to a new Mastodon instance run by some of our curators: https://fedifreu.de
It's running a friendly fork of Mastodon called #GlitchSoc which gives us many nice features including Markdown posting, polls with more than 4 options, longer toots, and more. See https://glitch-soc.github.io/docs/ for details.
Today we published a new version of https://switching.software with too many updates to list. Check it out for the latest alternatives to proprietary software!
We know that our website still contains some outdated content because this project had a period of inactivity. If you notice errors or omissions, please search for existing issues in our Codeberg repository before creating new issues: https://codeberg.org/swiso/website/issues
#switchingSoftware #swiso #softwareAlternatives #FOSS #FLOSS