i think its extremely important to take control over how you experience the internet, and what control you have over said experience. from the music you listen to, the movies you watch, the shows you binge, what you read, how you navigate the internet, etc. i think it's extremely important to take control of these things if you highly value them and want to keep these things (or yourself) safe.
the internet has deteriorated in ways i could go on about for hours; corporate has shat all over this lovely pasture and will continue to do so until it either dies, (or until they simply can't anymore). i hate what the internet represents now, i hate whats happened to such a beautiful thing.
because of this, i offer my resource guide of how you can make your experience a little (or a lot) less miserable. this will cover just about everything i can think of and include whatever i think is necessary (alongside explanations of these services).
if you are requiring help regarding the below resources, either look up its respective documentation or you can contact me for help, godspeed free internet.
to find a brief explanation of the links provided, click the arrow (">") nested to the left of them.
addy.io is a (opensource), anonymous, encrypted, and (free) dispoable email client. useful if you want to avoid spam to an important email, want to protect your privacy, or alternatively just want a bunch of aliases towards your main email address.
simplelogin is an alternative to addy.io, its (opensource) and can be selfhosted, offers anonymity, no tracking, no ads, unlimited bandwidth, and is privacy first.
workaround.org is a site that hosts ispmail, a free (though extensive) guide on how you can build a fully functional mail server from open source components; it is debian gnu/linux based though it is incredibly light but can be configured to be more heavy and powerful depending on your usecase.
tutamail is an extension of tuta (tutanota), a service provider mentioned in this resource hoard later on: but tutamail is an encrypted, ad-free, affordable, (and apparently opensource, if you'd like) email service. i very briefly used them myself and found little issues.
protonmail, much like tutamail is an extension of a service provider: (proton.) protonmail is much like tutamail! encrypted, tracker-free and (whatever other buzzwords i cant think about.) it's good, i've also used it before!
though I have not personally dabbled in using this, I have heard of many people praising this client: fairmail is a (opensource), privacy concerned android email client with a fuck ton of features. i highly implore you to read more details on the site itself.
same deal likewise with the above, i have not used it much myself but: posteo is an affordable (opensource) privacy focused service provider that offers: email, calendar, address book and notes for their services. they value anonymity, sustainable operation, ad-freedom, encryption, data-protection, shit read it in the paper the link is right there if you're curious!
same deal with fairmail, i have not personally used it but: mailbox is an affordable, privacy focused, ad-free, and security focused client, i've heard somewhat about this client but i again do not have any personal experience with it.
zen browser is a simple, (opensource) and relatively minimalist browser designed with privacy, organization, productivity and customization in mind. I have used this browser myself and am (very) fond of the essentials tab feature, workspaces, compact mode, and other things i cant be bothered to list here; i will also mention: it is in beta! (which, for being in beta it's not terrible, but it might have some bugs.)
firefox is babies first alternative browser, just thank god it's not google chrome: firefox is a (opensource) browser that touts privacy, ad-blocking, tracker-blocking, multitasking and cross device syncing as part of their pitch. it's a pretty safe option and i'd say if you're scared by the other (unheard of) alternatives then stick with it! nothing wrong with it and i used it for multiple years.
as an alternative to firefox, waterfox is a (opensource) fork of firefox that offers power tools, privacy, encryption, automatic consent handling (cookie rejection), zero telemetry, privacy tabs (so instead of taking up your entire window, a private tab lives in its own area), and with its own or startpage search engine shipped with it. (supposedly) it's also lighter than firefox! and pairs nicely with linux.
librewolf is a (opensource) fork of firefox that offers a lot of the same features as waterfox, though also offers dFPI (total cookie protection), RFP (which is apart of the Tor Uplift Project, also considered to be best class anti-fingerprinting), disabling of webGL (as it's a strong fingerprinting vector, it doesn't rely on cookies, logins or ip addresses), alongside quality of life annoyance fixes (like disabling extension recommendations, removing the pocket extension, disabling auto-play of media, etc). i'd check it out if these things interest you.
i'm actually currently using this! and so far it's been lovely, i saw this being recommended by my lovely friend vixen at (will link when it gets its own domain), floorp is a (opensource) fork of firefox that offers unmatched customizability (that keeps functionality at the focus of that), privacy, security, anti-fingerprinting, site permission controls, mouse gestures, workspaces, web apps, and probably more; i will update this summary overtime as i use it. once again, thank you vixen!
metager is a (opensource), affordable, privacy first, green (focuses on using renewable energy sources), metasearch engine that is ran by a non-profit called SUMA-EV, Association for Free Access to Knowledge.
mojeek is a (closedsource), privacy first, independent, crawler-based search engine that also supports the freedom to seek and has an anti-censorship stance.
duckduckgo is a (mix of closed and opensource), privacy first, independent, zero profiling, zero tracking, and minimal ad search engine that prioritizes data protection, peace of mind and security.
searxng is a (opensource), privacy first, encrypted, customizable, tor compatible metasearch engine that can be selfhosted, they also offer (246) configured search engines, (58) language translations, and (70) maintained instances of the engine at searx.space.
startpage is a (closedsource) privacy first, encrypted, zero profiling, minimal ad search engine that offers ghost search history functionality, strict GDPR privacy, private local results, and tracker protection.
pi-hole is a (opensource), selfhostable, network-wide dns sinkhole that acts as a central ad blocker and privacy gateway for all the devices on your home (or work) network.
adguardhome is a (opensource), selfhostable, network-wide dns sinkhole that blocks ads and trackers alongside offering cross-platform integration, per-device configuration, and parental controls if that concerns you.
wireguard is a (opensource), simple, quick and modern general purpose vpn. it aims to be extremely easy to use, configure, deploy and is capable of roaming between ip addresses. it is also designed to be high peformance. and have minimal attack surface.
wireguard road warrior is meant to be a companion to wireguard, it is designed to be as simple and quick as possible: quote ("this script will let you set up your own vpn server in no more than a minute, even if you haven't used wireguard before.")
vpneko is a (opensource), simple and affordable vpn service provider that has a wide variety of server locations, ipv4 and ipv6 support, zero tracking (0-log policy), ability to assign specific servers to specific websites (for regional bypass), and can be combined with wireguard. it's also a subsection of kicya.net, the same group responsible for nekoweb and atabook.
mullvad is a (opensource), relatively light, and privacy concerned vpn service provider that offers zero logging, complete anonymity (no account, cash and cryptocurrency payments encouraged), an integrated killswitch, multihop (multi server traffic routing), and encryption.
windscribe is a (opensource), light, security, privacy and censorship concerned vpn service provider that offers a consistent price (and a free tier with no email requirement), a large server base (69 countries, 115 cities), zero logging, encryption, split tunneling, multihopping and a flexible dns.
jellyfin is a (opensource) and selfhostable media server that can be used for music, movies, shows, live tv, dvr, books, and photos. i use it daily myself! i love jellyfin so much, it not only gives you control over everything you watch and listen to but it also just has a lot of customization and plugins that i feel like i cannot live without. i highly recommend hosting your own jellyfin instance its incredibly fun!
navidrome is a (opensource) and selfhostable music specific media server, it is pretty feature heavy (with a lot of quality of life features) it offers: mutli-library support, multi-platform support, smart playlists, sharing, scrobble integration, quick transcoding, and requires low resource usage.
spicetify is a multi-platform command-line tool that enables you to modify your spotify client: hate ads? you can get rid of that, hate podcasts? you can get rid of that, wanna have a neutered spotify with zero explicit songs? you can also (do that.) this tool offers customization, privacy and general quality of life fixes to spotify.
soulseek is every music snobs heaven, its a peer-to-peer, ad-free, spyware free file sharing platform mainly used for music but can be used for other types of files. do not be greedy, sharing is caring and you should definitely care (if you can).
lucida is a (in beta) audio/music ripper that prides itself on accessibility and ease of access as a whole. i briefly used it before i got more invested in using soulseek and i find it works pretty well, it does its job more over, inoffensive and won't give you many issues.
feishin is a (opensource) music player designed to work with media servers (think: jellyfin, navidrome, plex, opensubsonic), its incredibly polished and i find easy to use and setup. customizable to almost every inch of its ui, supports rich presence and scrobbling integration, and has a super cute set of visualizers.
foobar2000 is a (closedsource) freeware audio player, pretty minimal setup w/ tons of customization and themeing. also offers: gapless playback, all mainstream audio format support (mp1, mp2, mp3, m4a, aac, ogg, flac, wav, and some other bullshit you probably never heard of), advanced tagging, internet radio support, and more i probably havent listed.
pillowcase is a free and easy to use file hosting service: it can be used for photos, documents, music, videos (and more), it also offers storage tiers (200MB for anonymous users, 500MB for registered users, and 15GB for premium users).
filegarden is a free and easy to use filehosting service that can be used for just about any file type you can think about, its hotlink friendly and designed to specifically host panels, assets, etc. it is built to be a permanently free file-hosting option but you can pitch in at the creators patreon!
catbox is a (closedsource) free and incredibly easy to use filehosting service (like you can drag and drop shit into it immediately), with the added bonus of nsfw content being permitted if you're into that.
sister site to catbox.moe, but a little bigger this time!
once again, if you want an elaboration on any of these resources contact me personally and i'll do my best to help you with navigating them. i think its a right that people have a good, safe and streamlined experience on the internet.
