This is something I thought about it for a long time, too. I've been following this for years and was always suspicious about all the "free" services and what t

This is something I thought about it for a long time, too. I've been following this for years and was always suspicious about all the "free" services and what their motivation is behind it all. Here is a list of apps/extensions I use: - Firefox with disconnect.me, HTTPS everywhere, Adblock. - Never EVER use Google for search. Always use DuckDuckGo. - Deleted my Facebook account. - Never ever use Skype (I refuse anyone who wants to use skype) There are other alternatives. - Whenever possible I use a VPN (mine it privateinternetaccess) - Never use any storage services like Dropbox, OneDrive, GDrive, etc. Now that being said, I struggle with some "habits" and alternatives. These are: - Google Apps, especially email. There is a reason why it works and so many people use it. I've tried Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Airmail, Outlook, etc. But somehow always go back to gmail :-( On another note, I wonder what people use for an operating system?!? I myself use MacOS X. I run many servers, all of them are Ubuntu Servers. I love Linux. However for a desktop app, I need to be productive and fast. Every time I want to switch to Linux I find some app that is not working and I need to use a VM for that. Is it even worth considering a switch of operating systems? Too paranoid?