Tbh: while I try to use/buy European products where I can, sometimes it’s not practical (for lack of European manufacturers in a certain sector) or can’t be attributed properly (because some products, such as free software, do not have a fixed “origin”). A lot of what I do can be more broadly described as “flipping off fascism”, i.e. adopting products that are produced in democracies or compatible with democratic values.

Given this broad definition, here’s a brief run-down of my 2025:

• immediate termination of Amazon account in early '25 and switch to Galaxus (Swiss), among other European online shops.
• bought Toshiba HDDs (JP) instead of my usual WDs and Seagates (both U.S.)
• switched about a dozen people and a company over to Linux (Mint)
• expanded homelab services to allow others to ditch big tech offers.
• growing determination and courage in others to switch away from harmful and/or hostile services, leading to the termination of several paid big tech subscriptions.

Been self-hosting it for a while now and love it. Try Tempus if you’re looking for a good Android client app.

Got into self-hosting for this very reason. I’ve been running immich (the FOSS basis underneath Pixelunion) for 1.5 years now. I’ve even bought a server license to support the team. It’s ridiculously good software!

Note that I’m not even a techie or network guy by trade (though I’ve travelled far down the rabbit hole since). Spinning up immich on a local computer (not even a dedicated server) to make backups is relatively easy. If I could do it, it’s not unlikely you can, too.

Thanks for the Quobuz suggestion, which has come up in another posting here. I’ll make sure to check it out!

3. listen primarily to indie artists who have fan donations set up (albeit this is more work on your part due to decentralization) is to pirate the music, figure out how much you’d have paid on the music platform, and then directly donate to the artist, giving them (basically) all the money.

Good call! I’ve considered that route, but I couldn’t find (m)any donation opportunities for the bands I’m interested in, and if so, it’s mostly American platforms again (Patreon…).

A man of culture, I see! I’ve been an avid CD ripper all the way through the 2000s and 2010s. Yet, times are a-changing, and I want to try and forego the extra step physical media, which will only be opened once anyway and then just take up space (either in my house or somewhere else). Donating to a library is a good idea theoretically. I just have my doubts they’ll be prepared to reserve ever increasing amounts of shelf space for obscure extreme metal albums…