Open Source Alternatives to Google

[ Thanks to James Maguire for this link. ]

"Is it feasible to drop Google for a period of time in exchange for unfettered open source alternatives?

"When I first pondered the notion of such an idea, I figured I must be losing my mind. Drop Google? The search giant, regardless of how well-intentioned it may be, has an octopus-like hold on the Internet – its tentacles are everywhere.

"Oddly enough, though, it turned out to be easier than I expected. Let's look at the mindset, software choices and habit changes needed to make this idea doable.

"Dropping Google

"Considering Google's contributions to the open source world, why would anyone want to stop supporting such a company? Well, the problem with Google is that despite their support of open source developers, their track record with privacy concerns is spotty.

"Perhaps even worse, the fact is that we are becoming entirely too dependent on Google products over those from smaller vendors. Everything from document management to revenue generation is almost entirely tied to Google these days. Ask anyone using the Web regularly and the odds are huge they're using at least one Google product."

Complete Story

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