Comment by atif089
7 months ago
Let's start with replacing Google. Count me in.
While DDG, Brave, Kagi etc are working generously to replace Google search. The other areas that I think get less attention and needs to be targeted to successfully dismantle them and their predatory practices are Google maps and Google docs.
Maps are hard because it requires a lot of resources and money and whatever but replacing docs should be relatively easier.
(paid user of Kagi here)
FWIW, Kagi is built on top of Google search, so yes it's "replacing" (for you and me) a dependence on Google search, but it is categorically not a from-the-ground-up replacement for Google search.
Oh that's pretty smart
Using OSS to commoditize complements plays a big role in breaking up big advantages.
There is big tech open source consortium working on maps now to commoditize it: https://siliconangle.com/2022/12/15/aws-microsoft-meta-tomto...
Not sure it'll work. I think half the advantage comes from the integration across all these tools (maps, search, etc). Have you ever tried to use duckduckgo? It surprised me what I take for granted in Google's user experience.
I wholeheatedly agree with you. The GMaps experience is vastly superior. Additionally, when I'm referring to Gmaps, I think one of the critical features that I would love to replace with Open Source is Places. With due respect, I find both Google and Yelp a*holes in this area. While OpenStreetMap is really good for mapping, I'm still looking to find(or create) somethign that can supplement OSM with Places/Business data.
What does a zero cost / zero IP / cooperative model of a Google killer look like?
It can't have ads, and it can't hide any knowledge that exists which could help the user.. even if the knowledge is proprietary.
It must repeal copyright laws by force. It must drain all silos and know all things. And it must utilize the entirety of the library Genesis.
OpenStreetMaps is pretty decent, and I find it better than Google Maps in most cases.