infosec/privacy

guides/tips

• privacy guides aimed at beginners
• the new oil also aimed at beginners
• hitchhiker's guide to online anonymity extremely in depth
• prism break recommendations
• simple opt out guides to turning off excess data sharing
• how to protect yourself from your ISP

tools/software

• bitwarden foss 🔒 cloud-based password manager.
• keepassXC foss 🔒 local-only password manager. this was my favorite for years but recently ive been having issues with databases corrupting for some reason.
• exifcleaner foss remove metadata from files
• bleachbit foss drive cleaning
• fawkes edits photos in a way that confuses facial recognition AI
• have i been pwned data breach tracker
• terms of service; didn't read human-readable TOS's and privacy policies of websites/services

operating systems

• distrowatch open source operating system info/comparisons/news
• distrochooser tool to help you pick an open source operating system
• linux mint foss commonly recommended to people new to linux
• pop!_os foss also recommended to people new to linux
• fedora foss a bit of an older distro. pretty well-established and popular.
• manjaro foss an arch-based distro. a bit unstable (*i've never had issues)
• endeavour foss an arch-based distro.

networks

• tor foss 🔒 onion router. most popular alt network.
• I2P (invisible internet project) foss 🔒 P2P network layer
• freenet foss P2P internet alternative. not private, so only connect to freenet sites run by people you know.
• retroshare foss 🔒 P2P network focused on social communication

vpn

• mullvad foss no personal info needed to use. flat $5/mo rate.
• ovpn foss has legal insurance. paid only.
• protonvpn foss linked to protonmail account. free or paid.

storage

cloud

• nextcloud foss 🔒 self-hosted cloud drive with enterprise features.
• mega semi-foss 🔒 🇳🇿 free or paid.
• protondrive foss 🔒 🇨🇭 tied to protonmail account. free or paid.
• cozy foss 🇫🇷 aimed at europeans (but not a requirement).
• ente foss 🔒 🇳🇱 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 photo and video storage. paid only.

browsing

• fuck google chrome all my homies hate google chrome
• firefox foss daily driver. widely supported, highly customizable, and can be hardened depending on your security/privacy needs.
• tor foss 🔒 for anonymous browsing and accessing the tor network (dark web)
• librewolf foss firefox fork. basically just arkenfox.js added by default.
• icecat/gnuzilla foss firefox fork that doesn't push nonfree plugins or features.
• min foss minimalist browser
• bromite foss android browser

add-ons/extensions

• ublock origin foss powerful but lightweight adblocker (and more!)
• violentmonkey foss userscript manager
• stylus foss userstyle manager
• sponsorblock foss autoskips annoying segements in youtube videos
• containers foss isolates cookies to specific tabs, so you can sign into multiple accounts on one site in one window
• image search options foss reverse image search options on right click

userscripts/userstyles

• greasyfork userscripts
• userstyles.world foss created as a replacement of userstyles.org
• USO archive foss archive of userstyles.org

communication/social

email

• thunderbird foss 🔒 email client
• protonmail foss 🔒 🇨🇭 email provider (+more). free or paid.
• tutanota foss 🔒 🇩🇪 🌿 email provider (+more). free or paid.
• posteo 🔒 🌿 🇩🇪 email provider (+more). paid only.
• mailbox 🔒 🌿 🇩🇪 email provider (+more). paid only.
• disroot foss 🔒 🌿 🇳🇱 email provider (+more) aimed at activists. need to fill out an application for an account.
• riseup foss? 🔒 🇺🇸? email provider (+more) aimed at activists. invite only.
• autistici foss 🇺🇸 🇮🇹 email provider (+more) aimed at activists. selective.

• simplelogin foss 🔒 email aliasing.

instant messaging

• fuck discord all my homies hate discord
• IRC/XMPP foss oldskool IM protocols. well-established and widely supported.
• matrix foss 🔒 decentralized messenger protocol.
• mattermost foss 🔒 slack alternative.
• revolt foss discord-like.
• session foss 🔒 doesnt require info for an account.
• briar foss 🔒 P2P messenger that works without internet. useful for those with spotty or restricted internet access.

social media

• mastodon foss decentralized microblogging software, powered by activitypub and connected to the wider fediverse. twitter-like, but better. the most promising alternative to mainstream social media.
• cohost tumblr-like blogging platform. actively in development.
• dreamwidth foss livejournal alternative.

mastodon/fediverse-specific

• fedi tips in-depth guide to using mastodon and the fediverse.
• fedi directory people to follow.
• trunk people to follow.

office/productivity

• libreoffice foss office suite
• openoffice foss office suite
• etherpad foss real-time document collaboration (like google docs).

notes

• obsidian 🔒 customizable notebook that uses markdown.
• turtl foss 🔒 notebook with collaboration features.
• notesnook foss 🔒 notetaking. paid only.
• joplin foss 🔒 notetaking
• simplenote foss notetaking

development

text editors

• vscodium foss vscode, but with microsoft's telemetry shit removed
• notepad++ foss lightweight text editor

health/wellness

• commonhealth manage your personal health info
• euki sexual health/education. also has a period tracker.
• drip foss period/fertility tracker. designed to be private, secure, and inclusive.
• loop habit tracker
• stretchly foss periodically reminds you to take a break while on your PC
• workrave foss monitors your keyboard and mouse usage and makes you take breaks and will set limits for screentime.

idfk where to put these

• open street map foss map of the world. alternative to google and apple's maps.
• osmand foss offline maps and navigation, powered by OSM.
• organic maps foss hiking/walking maps, powered by OSM.
• raven foss 🔒 desktop RSS reader

entertainment

audio/music

players

• wacup - winamp, but without corporate garbage and cryptoshit
• foobar2000 - freeware. customizable and in-development since 2002
• aimp - freeware. customizable. designed to be winamp's spiritual successor.

streaming

• stealing bandwidth from spotify is morally correct
• spotX - modded spotify desktop client with unlocked premium features
• xmanager - android app that mods spotify
• nuclear - stream music from multiple free sources, in one app

• electronic: oldskool edm
• vgm: cirrusretro

radio

• various: radiooooo
• electronic: rekt network / di.fm
• vaporwave: nightwave plaza / poolsuite / vaporwave archive / retrowave
• chill: lofi cafe / chillhop / ambicular
• vgm: vgmradio / rainwave / vgm
• asian: listen.moe
• ambient: music for programming / tabletop audio / rainymood / tree.fm / sounds of maine / vibeocean
• keygen: keygen music / keygen music

• nostalgia machine - the top songs of a chosen year
• halo menus - classic halo menu screens

downloads

• yt-dl/yt-dlp - download videos from youtube (and other sites). use yt-dlg if you don't want to use the command line.
• soulseek - p2p music sharing (download soulseek NS, not Qt). if you don't like the UI, nicotine+ is a modern alternative.
• 9xbuddy - in-browser video-to-mp3 downloader

• vgm: khinsider / zophar's domain
• asian: sitting on clouds / openings.moe

video/movies/tv

streaming

• multihost: crocovid
• movies & tv: soap2day / m4ufree / ask4movie / c1ne / lookmovie
• cartoons: kimcartoon / kisscartoon / wco / watchcartoononline
• asian dramas: dramacool / kissasian