Intro

Most of this website describes what I have running on our servers and what apps you can use to access them. However you need devices with operating systems to access. The devices and OS you use is important for your own overall privacy and security. For example, if your device or OS is spying on what you do, even your end to end encrypted communications can be seen.

Having higher privacy and security sometimes has a tradeoff between convenience and user experience, but this is narrowing. Linux computers and degoogled phones are now very nice and enjoyable to use thanks to the hard work of many volunteer developers.

What is Freedom?

If people are following your location and watching what you say, are you free? If you cannot install and use the software you want to use, are you free? If you are censored and unable to communicate with people, do you have freedom of speech? This is why you need free software if you want freedom.

I use almost exclusively FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). Using corporate software with hidden code is like eating corporate food with hidden ingredients that are probably not good for you. Most proprietary closed source software and operating systems spy on people. This can be proved, but much of what is going on behind the scenes is an opaque black box. 

Devices and Operating Systems

Laptops/PC's/Desktops

Linux is a kernel with many variations called distributions. These distributions can use many different desktop environments to provide the look and feel you want. Linux is FOSS and not controlled by any company or government. It is developed transparently. You don't log into a corporate server such as Microsoft, Apple, or Google just to operate it or download software.

The number of options are many and possibly confusing. I currently use EndeavorOS which is based on Arch. If you tell me a little about what you want in a computer and what you want it to look like, I can point you in some directions. You can try different ones and find the one you like best.

Handsets/phones

You should also choose a FOSS handset if you want to control it rather than let it control you. Handsets can be uniquely threatening to your freedom as they can monitor your movements, listen to what you say, and most are designed to collect a lot more about you. An anonymous phone where you don't need to log into some corporate network just to operate it is ideal.

My hands down recommendation is https://grapheneos.org/. I have been using it for years. It is the most private and secure device available but very functional and fun. Some of the features that standout is how it treats every app as hostile by heavily sandboxing it with many firewall settings you can control. No app has any access to device identifiers which is a problem for a few apps that demand to know this.

Many other operating systems are like Graphene that are forks/variants of Android that do not require Google Play Services to be installed. These include CalyxOS, EOS, PostmarketOS, and LineageOS. These are also very private but not as secure as Graphene.

Other Notes about Securely Using the Handset

Phone Calling

You must assume that all regular phone calls and SMS are listened to, recorded, and analyzed, but sometimes you need a number to call your barber or whoever does not use encrypted communications. Without going into details, ideally you never use the phone number associated to your SIM card. This ensures your device remains anonymous. You can use VOIP (Voice Over IP) services to have cheap calling that is not linked to your phone. Jmp.chat is an easy service for Android. Just install Cheogram app and start setting up your number(s). Other services such as VOIP.MS are cheaper but more difficult to setup.

You do not need a SIM card to operate a handset, but if you want to have internet access away from home, I recommend these services:

 Jmp.chat also provides a pay as you go service.

Silent.link provides something similar.

You can prepay cash for burner SIM's from Mint Mobile or Ting. You can find them in stores such as Best Buy or have them delivered.

Apps

Television

Smart TV's like most smart devices are designed to spy on you. I turned off internet access to our smart TV but use add on devices that I can control more. 

I have been using a https://kodi.tv setup on a Raspberry PI for years. This is a completely free and open source solution that I have the most control over. Unfortunately, its apps are sometimes sub par or non-existent for some content either I or my housemates want to watch. It does generally work well for quite a few purposes and especially for watching your owned content stored on the media server.

Now I have switched mostly to using a Roku device. Roku requires setting up an account with Roku, but I was able to do that anonymously using the tricks defined in credential management. Here are apps that I use most often:

Jellyfin

This is connected to my own server to allow watching all our content as described here.

Playlet

This app lets us watch all Youtube content without any advertising or account by using our Invidious server. 

Rumble

Rumble is currently a great free speech platform with minimal advertising.