Coming from iOS. Some Questions

Using /e/OS Migrate to /e/OS
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I am thinking about to deGoogleing and leave Apple. On my mac I would probably a Linux-Version (Pear?) and get a Fairphone with e/OS.
Now, what can I expect from e/OS? For instance I have tons of photos on my iPhone and I want to migrate them AND would I be happy to have similar features for getting them in order: Face recognition to sort by person is most valuable and also the other AI features. Is something like this possible with e/OS?
Also I certainly like to have all my contacts, calendar, notes synchronized with my future Linux laptop (I have not yet a clue of Linux). What kind of cloud solution is most convenient for this?
Also I love Airdrop in the Apple ecosystem. Is something like this possible with e/EO and Linux?

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/OS the deGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

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I have just done almost the same as you except I was already using Linux on my laptops. As I already needed to share between Linux and the Apple ecosystem, I already used other secure apps that made the transition easier. I was already using ProtonMail for my email, calendar and limited photo backup using Proton Drive. I had already exported all of my photos to local storage but, am still in the process of organizing these. I use Proton Drive to backup current photos and share them between devices. I exported all my contacts from the phones and re-imported then to the new FP5’s without any problem using VCF format.
Having gone through this process, I realise the great job that Apple did of trapping us all within their eco-system by making so many little tasks that take just a little bit more effort if you take responsibility for them yourself, so incredibly streamlined and easy. When you decide to take back control, it does involve quite a bit of time ad effort. It has taken me weeks to extract all of our data from icloud, delete most of our Apple accounts and tidy up and organise the data on local devices, and re-locate some for sharing.
Concerning Apple Notes, which I also used quite a bit, I just went through them and deleted everything that I didn’t need. I then transferred anything that I wanted to keep to Standard Notes which I was already using. And then I had all my notes when I installed Standard Notes on the FP5.
I have always used LibreOffice and not Pages / Numbers so, I am not sure about compatibility with other systems. I believe MS Office can import them but, not sure?
I am very glad that I detached myself from Apple. We are very happy with our FP5 phones. My next step is to get an e/os tablet purchased and setup. I know which one to buy that should install e/os fairly easily - and I have got a lot of advice from other members on this. The pre-installed e/os tablets are not available for sale currently from the Murena Shop, or I would have just bought one from there. I hardly use my ipad any more but, would like to completely retire it.
Despite all the effort in getting to this point, I am very happy that I did it and just wished that I had done it much sooner.

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Background:
Came from complete iOS integration with family etc. I’m a casual user - most of my things are done via webbrowser. Work stuff on an mandatory issued Ipad, but comes with pre-installed apps and I use it without an apple account.

ad Photos:
Proton Drive automatically syncs photos. There’s no face recognition feature as far as I know - most likely due to obvious privacy and data storage/sharing problems.

ad Contacts:
Exported via iOS as en email attachment and imported to e/os without a hickup.
ad Calender: Proton Calender allows URL sharing, which mean that I can subscribe to my wifes iOS calenders, and she can subscribe to the calenders I run on Proton.

ad Notes:
I went with Notebooks (Notizen-App – Text, Bilder, Audiodateien und Checklisten hinzufügen | Zoho Notebook). The free unpaid version lets my sync notes across linux (i’m using Ubuntu version), E/os and even to iOS (my work issued Ipad).

ad Airdrop:
LocalSend. This app (available on Linux, Android and iOS), will allow you to send files to any device on the same network (so inferior to Airdrop because Airdrop will allow sharing even when not connected to same wifi. On the other hand, LocalSend works across platforms, which Airdrop doesn’t do.)

My experience with a total break-free from big tech (living in a totally dependent country in Europe) is that it is totally doable. You can get to 99% of the same convenience as with Google and Apple (caveat background story), but you need to learn new ways and habits. But trust me - you will feel just as comfortable as you did before, and more free of course.

1 thing that did not work for me at least is chromecast ability. Even with Google Home installed and logging in with a (burner) account, I was unable to acheive casting with my music apps. I think other user have had this working, but you’ll need to research this more. I bought a nice bluetooth speaker for the dining/kitchen area - problem solved.

I wanna give a praise to Proton.
For an everyday user (busy family dad with all that shit), it is so great!
Mail, Drive, Calender, VPN and even e-coin wallet, that all syncs across Linux, Android and iOS. Just superb in my opinion. And that fact that it’s all based in Switzerland (so out of EU data laws AND US reach), is just amazing.

Take the red pill and enjoy the journey!

Martin

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Is there anything particular you have in mind regarding this?
I’m just curious considering Proton complies with the EU GDPR and Switzerland has a certain scope of bilateral agreements with the EU.

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I belive Switzerland have some additional laws pertaining to the amount of information private entities are required to hand over to authorities… But I get the feeling you are about to educate me on something ;)…? Go ahead sir…

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Just the opposite, I was hoping you could point to something particular to consider. But it seems we both will have to live with our own set of less precise concerns then :wink: .

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ok - I was also hoping you could give some insight :wink: But I think EU data laws are a double edged sword, in that it does give citizens some protection regarding how private firms handle user data, but on the other hand it gives authorities vast tools in getting insight to those data, under various “terror” and “serious” crime excuses. This is where I believe the laws in Switzerland have a higher standard as to how much evidence the authorities have to present in order to gain acces to user data.

So my point was just that when Proton operates in Switzerland, they have all the “good” stuff from EU data laws, but are protected from all the (too powerful in my opinion) tools that EU authorities have in terms of data collection from citizens.

So a win-win I guess.

Martin

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Your discussion about Proton was of great interest to me because, even though I am happy with the Proton services, I have been trying out Tutamail and am also going to investigate self hosting for email. My concern is specific to my UK location. The UK government has been putting immense pressure on Apple to provide them with an encryption backdoor and I fear that if they win their court case with Apple, Proton will be next on their target list. It is a shame because I have been very satisfied with Proton and have a subscription with them that expires in January. But, judging by your discussion, it appears that a Swiss based service like Proton might be a safer security bet for email than the Belgian based Tutanota (I think they are Belgian!).

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Im no legal expert to be sure, but as Proton is registered in Switzerland and does not have a buisness set up in the UK, I dont think UK has any juristiction over Proton or any content on their servers, which are not located in UK (and I dont belive they have servers with user data outside of Switzerland).

For the data traffic that flows through UK infrastructure (cables, towers, and all devices connected to the internet), it all belongs to the authorities in the end. I belive that almost all European countries (Switzerland the least of them though) have taken anti-terror laws to such lenghts, that they can basically get any info they want. And if they cant with domestic authorities, they’ll just use intelligence services of partner countries to do the spying on their own citizens and pass on the info. We have seen this done many times in europe and in the world (5 eyes etc).

Martin

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Hi all,

First came to this topic as i was looking for hints to easyly switch from macOS & iOS threw Debian & e/OS, with a Proton services integration.

As a proton mail and pass user i felt really concerned by this new i read westerday, saying the swish federal governement is working for some laws against encrypted communications, etc.

Andy Yen even said:

Nous nous sentirons obligés de quitter la Suisse si la révision partielle de la loi sur la surveillance que le Conseil fédéral envisage entre en vigueur (…) En aucun cas nous ne pouvons nous conformer à cette loi.

(My bad english won’t do the job as well as a translator).

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It seems like all countries are trying to make privacy illegal. It looks like in Switzerland, VPN’s are also affected by these proposed new laws.

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I am not an expert, but isn’t it always possible to send and receive some “random” data files? And if those contain your encrypted messages, how should the government be able to control or regulate that?

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This is why i’ve always been cautious about the fact that Proton only maintains a few infrastructures outside Switzerland (for VPN purpose only i guess ?).
But i never thought Switzerland could be a pain regarding online privacy.

Ultimately, I have the same concern regarding Murena that informs through it’s web site that their user’s data (e-mail and file storage) are hosted in Finland.

During 2024’s Paris olympic games physical attacks were committed on the french physical network (mostly on optic fiber infrastructures) in six french departments boudary to Switzerland and Italy.
At this time (around the end of july) i experienced very low latencies, like 30 secs, to download a poor and attachmentless email from Proton servers.

Like we say in french (and probably elsewhere?): “don’t put your eggs in the same basket” could be applied to changes in local regulations as well as to unexpected changes or incidents in infrastructure.

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We disgressed a lot about the main topic. :grinning:

I finally (after nine days on blackout), received an email from Fairphone saying my Murena PF5 is on it’s way.

The refurbished Lenovo Thinkcenter i use instead of my dearly beloved M4 Mac Mini is already doing fine under Ubuntu (the bearing noise from the fan is a pain, regarding a TDP of 35w and no real activity like VM running or stuff, i must “pimp” that).

I’d like to have both terminals in hands to test what i wan’t to do and what it get.
(I’m not the sort of guy to shit where it eats, so will deeply think about Murena’s cloud instead of Proton to replace iCloud, since the integration between Murena cloud and Nautilus looks to work fine on paper).

See you soon!