Anyway, I later figure out that Google is also involved in the genocide. It is not as bad as Microsoft, I could say, but still, it sucks.
Unfortunately, the Chromebook runs on Google ecosystem. Technically, the whole OS runs on Google Chrome. and degoogling the whole device is not easy.
Ah well, we live in a world where things are interlinked. If I use a Microsoft device, I am directly involved in the genocide, plus they actually track you. So even though Google is the same, but maybe, they are the lesser evil and they are ways to mitigate the whole thing.
What I did was I opt to limit my use of Google products as a whole.
So before we go further, let me explain the structure of a Chromebook.
The base OS is the ChromeOS which is basically a bare bone operating system that runs Google Chrome. You cant modify this layer. This is the layer that handles drivers, boot, the menu, the desktop manager and integration with other devices such as Android phones. Because it is tightly intergrated, it is actually pretty fast and smooth.
You can install what you can install on a Google chrome, Progressive Web Apps (PWA) and Chrome extensions. Because it is tightly integrated; between the Hardware, UI and the Google Chrome, I was able to spin up few Apps here, like a calculator (built using HTML, CSS, JS) and a whole bunch of medical formulas, like the Framingham Risk Score calculator.
Then we have the ARC VM, which is basically Android 13. I can install app via Google Play store, which is avoid, obviously, Fdroid or even APK (via ADB). In this layer, I mainly use proprietary software which I need to use for work, like the Mir Spirometry software.
Then we have Crostini, which is basically Debian 12. Basically you can do whatever you can do with a debian Linux like installing .Deb apps, .app image , python , bash scripting etc. Only limitation is you cant change anything that is under the hood, like the boot or the UI. Unfortunately, this also mean using a printer on the Crostini layer is a headache. The only headache, tbh
Because the ARCVM, the Crostini and the ChromeOS is tightly integrated, you don't actually feel like using 3 OS. under the hood, they work quite seamless. You can right click install a .Deb file, and it will be registered into a the main menu, alongside your ChromeOS PWA, and android apps.
It does not feel emulated either. Copy paste is smooth, UI looks blended. dark mode on the main ChromeOS makes debian and android dark mode too.
Anyway, it is still "GOOGLE" so how do I minimize my dependence on Google, and Microsoft.
I did a few changes. First, Office Editors. I ditch Microsoft Office for OnlyOffice Linux and it was smooth.
For Google Drive, I use free 8gb clouds from https://oto.lv.tab.digital . They are built using nextcloud. Basically, they also give you Nextcloud Calendar, from which I was able to ditch Google Calendar. Yippee.
Email is tough because Gmail is good. But I finally found a replacement. https://inbox.lv and https://mail.ee . Both also gave me 20gb of cloud storage so that is pretty cool.
Oh by the way, I figure out Syncthing provides you with a cloudless sync solution. Which is neat since I don't need to rely on Google drive to work on my documents anymore.
Next is browser. I installed Brave Browser which comes built in with Brave search engine. So I basically able to ditch both Google Chrome (which now I only use for apps installation) and Google Browser.
For meeting, I change from Google Meet to Jitsi Meet. Which is free, and unlimited.
For Desktop sharing, I change from Google Desktop / Team viewer to Rust Desk, which did the job pretty well.
For research, I have always been using Zotero. So no issue. Problem is, Zotero local app does not work only office. First was WPS, but I try being open source, I eventually I had to install Libreoffice. Apparently, Libreoffice looks neat on ChromeOS so I don't complain.
For email client, I used Geary. it is not perfect. but it is fine. On Android I used Edison Email, in lieu of the Gmail app.
