Can We Escape Tech Monopolies

And how

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Photo by 🇻🇪 Jose G. Ortega Castro 🇲🇽 on Unsplash

When I was young, I bought software in a box.

It had a sticker with an activation code. It came with a manual thicker than my thigh. And it didn’t update itself into oblivion overnight.

That was in the early 2000s.

Now, we lease everything from a handful of tech companies. Google reads our emails, Microsoft pops into our workflow (or screws it up with yet another update), and Apple charges $29.99 for a cloth to clean your screen.

We’re not using tech anymore. We’re renting access to it.

So, can we even escape tech monopolies?

The short answer: Maybe.

The longer answer: Let’s see.

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The Big 3 Are Everywhere

• Google controls your search, your calendar, your emails, your documents, your navigation, and possibly your AI.

• Microsoft has always been the go-to office software monopoly.

• Apple wants you to feel like you’re escaping the others, while locking you into their own hardware-software garden.

And we can’t do much about it? Or can we?

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The Open Way Out?

Well, software us ubiquitous. It’s everywhere. And we need it for almost anything.

But we don’t have to rely on paid software or free stuff that takes our data and sells it.

We can use open source alternatives. The issue is: It’s not as seamless. Not as simple.

1. Operating System

Linux has been around forever, it feels like. And it’s gotten pretty good. You can choose from a gazillion different versions, and the most popular and stable ones are just as easy to use as Microsoft. We’re just not used to them.

Ubuntu, Fedora, Pop!_OS are all great for beginners.

You don’t need to write code in a terminal like it’s 1999. Linux in 2025 is surprisingly friendly, if you’re not relying on Adobe Creative Cloud or other proprietary shackles.

Which is kind of the point here.

Much of the popular software is available on Linux, either natively from the companies themselves, or ported, or in forms of alternative tools.

2. Office Suite

This is the easiest one to change, I think.

Instead of Microsoft Office, we can use LibreOffice or OnlyOffice. You get documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. And they’re pretty robust and feature-rich.

3. Email & Calendar

It gets more complicated here, I feel like. The tools that compete with giants like Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook have a tough time.

Alternatives like ProtonMail or Tutanota are good, don’t get me wrong, but they come with a price tag and they not as feature-rich and straightforward sometimes.

But it’s totally possible-

4. Search Engine

Another easy one.

Try DuckDuckGo, Startpage, or Kagi (if you’re willing to pay). They don’t track you. They don’t guess what you want. They just search.

5. Browser

Firefox is the go-to for all open source nerds.

Not perfect. But open. Transparent. And still swinging.

If you want extra privacy, layer it with uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and Cookie AutoDelete.

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What About Phones?

This is the trickiest bit.

You have two choices: Google or Apple.

That’s basically it.

But you can try to fight back if you really want to.

• Use a de-Googled Android like /e/OS or LineageOS.

• Buy a PinePhone or Librem 5 if you’re extremely committed (and extremely patient).

• At the very least, replace Google apps with alternatives (from F-Droid for example).

You won’t get the polish of iOS. But you will get freedom. Rough, clunky, beautiful freedom.

Or you use an iPhone and replace all Apple software with other tools. Mail, Calendar, Notes, Office, Browser.

It’s much easier, and you’re almost out of the walled garden.

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The AI Trap

Yeah. The next monopoly is coming. AI.

Google has Gemini. Microsoft has Copilot. Apple’s integrating ChatGPT.

The new gold rush is AI, and we’re the gold.

BUT Open Source AI is exploding. You may have never heard of it.

• Models like LLaMA, Mistral, and Mixtral are free to use.

• You can run your own chatbot with Ollama or LM Studio.

• Hugging Face hosts more models

Want to generate images, write scripts, or summarize your notes with no data harvesting? You can do it locally, offline, and on your own terms.

The learning curve is steep. For now. But it will get better, I am sure.

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Can We Really Escape?

Not entirely, I am afraid. Or not without losing much of the upsides that software, tools, and devices bring.

But even if you completely ditch everything, you still:

• use the internet

• talk to someone who uses the internet

• live within 3 miles of someone using a device

…you’ll still be touched by Big Tech. And their devices and tools will still know something about you.

At least, we can minimize the damage. We can reduce our dependence. And most importantly, we can support real alternatives.

Maybe that’ll lead to a future when:

• Phones run open software by default.

• AI assistants are local, not cloud-tethered voyeurs.

• Data sovereignty becomes a right, not a hack.

• Alternatives thrive

We’re not there yet. But we might get closer this way.

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