Practical Guides

Concrete steps to escape Big Tech and take back ownership of your communication and data.

From simple account creation to running your own server — start wherever you are.

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1Beginner

Create an account on Chaos.social

Step-by-step guide to create your first Chaos.social account.

2Beginner

Create a Nostr account

Nostr is a decentralized, censorship-resistant social protocol. Here's how to create your first account.

3Beginner

Replace WhatsApp with Element (Matrix)

Step-by-step migration from WhatsApp to a real privacy-friendly alternative with end-to-end encryption.

4Beginner

Create an account on Fosstodon

Step-by-step guide to create an account on Fosstodon (tech & open-source community).

5Beginner

Create your first Friendica account

Friendica is a decentralized social network that connects with Mastodon, Diaspora, Bluesky and even email.

6Beginner

Create your first Hubzilla account

Hubzilla is a powerful decentralized platform with nomadic identity — your data travels with you.

7Beginner

Create your first Lemmy account

Lemmy is the decentralized Reddit alternative: communities and discussions without a central owner or algorithm.

8Beginner

Create your first Mastodon account and migrate from X/Twitter

Mastodon is not a replacement for Twitter — it is better: you choose your own server, your data is yours, and you can always move.

9Beginner

Install Nextcloud (your own cloud)

Nextcloud is open-source software for your personal cloud: files, photos, calendar, contacts — everything under your control.

10Beginner

Messaging apps without Big Tech

Secure, private and decentralized alternatives to WhatsApp, iMessage and Telegram.

11Advanced

Make your node accessible from outside

Your Umbrel node is now only accessible locally. How do you reach it safely from anywhere in the world? From simple to advanced.

12Beginner

Create your first Pixelfed account

Pixelfed is the decentralized alternative to Instagram: share photos without algorithms, ads, or central control.

13Beginner

Peer-to-peer payments without Big Tech

Send and receive money privately and without intermediaries using Bitcoin, Lightning and other open protocols.

14Beginner

Run your own sovereign node at home (Raspberry Pi + Umbrel)

This is the way to own your own piece of the internet: Bitcoin node, Lightning, Nostr, Nextcloud, photo backup – all at home, all yours.

15Beginner

Good news! You've found a thesis that deserves a practical guide

The Open Internet Manifest is alive: theses, concepts and guides grow through community contributions.

16Beginner

Searching without Google

Privacy-friendly and independent alternatives to Google Search.

17Beginner

Video without YouTube

-coming soon-

18Beginner

The Guides are Alive

It is a commons, a shared garden that grows as long as we keep tending it.

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