After this post, here is how you can ACTUALLY do all of that with Emacs.
All of these Emacs extensions are basically text-based and more or less difficult to use. You WILL have the core functions of the Google stuff, but don't expect to have a good time.
Degoogling:
- Gmail -> mu4e ( https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/mu4e )
- Photos -> image-dired (built-in) ( https://lucidmanager.org/productivity/using-emacs-image-dired/ )
- Search -> any search engine in eww, maybe ddg-html ( https://html.duckduckgo.com/html/ )
- Chrome -> eww (built-in) ( https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_mono/eww.html )
- Keep -> org (built-in), org-roam ( https://www.orgroam.com/ )
- Drive -> emacs-syncthing ( https://github.com/KeyWeeUsr/emacs-syncthing )
- Passwords -> pass (built-in)
- Auth -> totp.el, looks highly experimental ( https://www.masteringemacs.org/article/securely-generating-totp-tokens-emacs )
- Calendar -> org-agenda (built-in)
- Play Store -> MELPA (used in your config)
- no VPN -> mullvad.el, looks highly experimental ( https://github.com/benthamite/mullvad/blob/main/mullvad.el )
- ChatGPT -> ellama ( https://www.rahuljuliato.com/posts/ellama ); @j4k3@lemmy.world: gptel is better ( https://github.com/karthink/gptel )
- Maps -> osm.el ( https://github.com/minad/osm )
For all my Emacs users out there, am I missing something ? Do you have alternatives / more usable recommandations ?-

26 Comments
diemartin@sh.itjust.works · 45 pts · 358d
Great, now I need a replacement for emacs
runs
sunoc@sh.itjust.works · 25 pts · 357d
ofc if you don't want to edit code with Emacs, you can always run Vim in eshell in Emacs ! =P
or even (god forbid) running VSCode in Emacs in exwm mode
django@discuss.tchncs.de · 11 pts · 357d
I just use the built-in Evil Mode.
sunoc@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 357d
Best of both worlds
Usernamealreadyinuse@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 357d
Usernamealreadyinuse@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 357d
chottomatte@lemdro.id · 16 pts · 358d
I have been so lazy when it comes to learn emacs and vim, but this sounds interesting enough as a start
sunoc@sh.itjust.works · 18 pts · 357d
Interesting for sure, but I would not recommend going for most of these packages unless you are already very familiar with Emacs.
Here are the steps I would recommend if you find motivation to learn the editor:
Enjoy =)
NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de · 10 pts · 357d
May I suggest trying VS Codium instead of VS Code for step 3 and potentially (not guaranteed) not be grossed out too much? It's a FOSS version of VS Code that removes telemetry and most of the gross Microsoft stuff.
@chottomatte@lemdro.id, see above
chottomatte@lemdro.id · 5 pts · 357d
Thank you, I've tried it before, but it still has some restrictions like extensions , in my experience I didn't notice a difference as I don't use a lot of extensions, but I still prefer to stay away from anything that Microsoft put limitations on , even if it doesn't affect me now, it might later
chottomatte@lemdro.id · 5 pts · 357d
Thank you, I didn't mean I'll rush and install all of the mentioned things in the post, but it motivates me to learn
actually I have two problems: 1- I don't know where to start 2- I'm too lazdy to search for resources so I start
And please don't mention that VS code piece of shit in front of me even as an example, I can only use Windows as OS , one product by Microsoft is enough to tortue me
sunoc@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 357d
Okay so here's the thing: Emacs runs best on Linux and MacOS (allegedly, bc UNIX-like) but it is more difficult to make it do what you want on Windows (afaik, never tried this). You'll probably need WSL.
So if you have to stick with Windows, I'd suggest to search specifically for configurations and advice from other people who have done this. It will give you a base for installing and probably running a custom configuration.
From there, that my point 2), you should focus on trying and making YOUR workflow to run in Emacs. I really suggest to focus on one thing at the time and configuring it until it works the way you want. Otherwise you'll end up with many half-backed systems and that's frustrating.
What is your main use-case then? Maybe I can give some more precise advice if I'm familiar with it!
chottomatte@lemdro.id · 3 pts · 357d
Thank you, I'll take your notes into consideration , currently it's just learning C , I use Code::Block for it
sunoc@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 357d
Sweet! It's actually my main language. C mode is built-in so no concern on that side.
Some general advice:
M-x compileand then type your build command (make clean && make all) instead of using a terminal to compile your project.To have Emacs behave like an IDE:
clang17 clang17-extra-tools bearon the host system.bear --config bear_config.json -- make all) to make the non-trivial project understandable by Emacs. Since it re-uses your Makefile, it even works for cross-compilation!Good luck!
chottomatte@lemdro.id · 2 pts · 356d
Thank you very much, I highly appreciate your help
bobo@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 357d
Answer to both 1 and 2: start with an Emacs "distro" like Doom Emacs or Spacemacs. Starting from scratch as a beginner is a surefire way to quit.
chottomatte@lemdro.id · 3 pts · 357d
Thank you , I'll check it
TwilightKiddy@programming.dev · 5 pts · 357d
If you want a modal editor, you can also give Helix a try. Many people find it easier to use if you are coming in with no prior modal editor experience.
chottomatte@lemdro.id · 4 pts · 357d
Thank you , I'll check it
j4k3@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 357d
Gptel is better than ellama. Ollama only runs small junk. Llama.cpp is way better because it will split CPU and GPU and run bigger quantized models, especially large MoEs on a 16 GB GPU.
I started trying to mess with image-dired today for a few minutes to try and get my training images and caption files to sync and scroll, but didn't get very far before just tiling... such a noob
sunoc@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 357d
Sweet, I'm editing the OP. Thanks for the input!
Usernamealreadyinuse@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 357d
You should remove ) after https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/mu4e)
And
https://lucidmanager.org/productivity/using-emacs-image-dired/)
And all the others
sunoc@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 357d
Thanks! I just added spaces in the parentheses. It should work better now.
Mika@piefed.ca · 9 pts · 357d
Love emacs, and have lots of ease-of-life functions and keybinds in it. But the UX of the base editor feels so dated. Like how pointer moves with scroll, how scrolling isn't smooth etc etc
boletus@infosec.pub · 4 pts · 356d
We need a degoogle.el to implement this!
art@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 357d
Rad
hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org · 2 pts · 357d
I really want to get into using Emacs properly but it really seems too difficult. I actually already use org a little bit but I don't think I'm using it properly lol. It runs and works really well on my potato pc compared to other electron garbage though..
desmosthenes@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 357d
Google Chromium, sans integration with Google https://github.com/ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium if you need a chromium browser