Journal.
Handwritten notes from the degoogle & self-hosting journey — what I tried, what broke, what I'd do differently. The same journey, on video: youtube.com/@loosewiredev.
First entries are being written. Until then, the journey lives on YouTube.
From the products
Harknotes
2026-03-06
How to Transcribe Meetings Without Uploading to the Cloud
You don't have to send your meeting audio to third-party servers. Here's how to transcribe meetings locally, with no cloud upload required.
2026-03-06
How to Get Meeting Notes Using Local Whisper AI
Whisper is OpenAI's open-source speech recognition model. Here's how to use it locally to transcribe meetings — without sending audio to the cloud.
2026-03-06
The Best Meeting Transcription App for Linux
Most meeting transcription tools don't support Linux. Harknotes does — with native PulseAudio and PipeWire support, local Whisper AI, and no cloud audio.
2026-03-06
Meeting Transcription Without a Bot Joining Your Call
Most meeting transcription tools send a bot into your meeting. Here's why that's a problem — and how to transcribe meetings without anyone knowing.
2026-03-06
The Privacy-First Alternative to Otter.ai
Otter.ai uploads your meeting audio to the cloud and sends a bot into your calls. Here's a privacy-first alternative that transcribes locally.
Farscry
2026-03-09
Why Self-Hosted Video Calling Matters
Cloud video calling means trusting a third party with your conversations. Self-hosting puts you back in control — here's why that matters and what it takes.
2026-03-07
End-to-End Encrypted Video Calls, Explained
What does end-to-end encryption actually mean for video calls? How WebRTC makes it possible, and why most video platforms don't truly offer it.
2026-03-05
Video Calling Without a Phone Number
Why do video calling apps still require your phone number? It's not a technical requirement — it's a data collection strategy. Here's how friend codes offer a better alternative.
2026-03-03
A Self-Hosted FaceTime Alternative for the Whole Family
FaceTime is great if everyone has Apple devices. If they don't, you need an alternative that's cross-platform, private, and simple enough for anyone to use.
2026-03-01
Video Calling in One Docker Container
Self-hosted video calling shouldn't need Kubernetes. Here's how a single Docker container, a SQLite file, and WebRTC can handle everything you need.
Unclouded
2026-03-10
What Is Obtainium and Why It Matters
Obtainium lets you install and update Android apps directly from their source — GitHub, F-Droid, or anywhere else. Here's what it does, how it works, and why it changes the way you think about app installation.
2026-03-08
Leaving Google Messages for Signal
Google Messages is the default on most Android phones, but it reads your conversations to serve ads. Signal is the direct replacement — here's what changes when you switch, and what doesn't.
2026-03-06
Privacy Alternatives That Actually Work as Daily Drivers
Not every open-source app is ready to replace its proprietary counterpart. These are the ones that are — apps you can switch to today without sacrificing usability.
2026-03-04
How F-Droid Works Under the Hood
F-Droid is the most popular alternative app store for Android, but most people don't know how it actually builds, signs, and distributes apps. Here's the full picture.
2026-03-02
Why Honest App Comparisons Matter More Than Hype
Most 'alternative to X' lists are cheerleading, not comparing. They don't tell you what's missing, what's half-baked, or when you'll still need the original. That needs to change.
Mealforge
2026-07-05
AI Meal Planning Without Another Subscription
Meal planning apps have converged on the same model: a recipe catalog, an account, and $60 a year. There's another way — use the AI you already have and keep the data yourself.
2026-07-05
Planning a Week of Meals with AI over MCP
How Mealforge uses the Model Context Protocol to turn a planning conversation — in LibreChat, Claude, or any MCP client — into recipe cards, a cook mode, and a grocery list.
2026-07-05
Self-Hosted Meal Planning with One Docker Container
Most meal planning apps want an account, a subscription, and your data. Here's how to run a complete meal planning setup on your own server — one container, one SQLite file.