this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
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What alternative do you propose that is not based on some proprietary solution?
I can’t speak for @ShutUpWesley@piefed.zip, but I boycott both Google and Microsoft. This means 95+% of prospective people, corps, and gov agencies I would exchange email with are not getting email from me. They are also not getting an email address out of me.
I have been done with email for nearly a decade now, mostly. So, to answer your question, I use fax and snail mail. Not joking. I feel liberated and don’t give a shit about postage or inconvenience. There is still that exceptional 5% or so who I will exchange email with, which does not have GAFAM in the loop.
(edit) should add that I give friends and family an XMPP address (of my own, but often I also give them an XMPP acct for themselves). Google bounced from XMPP a decade or so ago and AFAIK Microsoft has no XMPP service. So it’s mostly snail mail and fax for govs and corps. XMPP for people.
Any friends or family who resist XMPP are mostly stuffed. They can either proxy through a mutual friend or call me if they are local.
I respect that. Reminds me of Donald Knuth, who stopped using email in 1990: " I have been a happy man ever since January 1, 1990, when I no longer had an email address"
https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.html
Interesting to see his take on “e-mail” vs “email”. I bet he changes his tune on “email” vs “mail” -- where gen-z has decided that it’s okay to save keystrokes by dropping the “e” because no one uses snail mail anymore. Indeed I am always disguested when someone says “send a mail”. I have to ask for clarification and they always confirm that mean email.
Something new, that doesn't have the anachronism of a nearly 50 year old protocol.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is currently a good replacement, but I think one should be developed.
Its strange you think that I'm siding with a proprietary solution, when email is effectively controlled by major tech companies, which is one of its biggest flaws.
That is not the case. We both can setup a mail server and email each other without any issues.
Yes, that's true, but most people aren't going to host an email server, because it's a pain(I know, I administrate 3 of them), which means that Google, Apple, Microsoft, Proton, and the other big tech companies will always control the majority of email accounts, and that gives them effective control over the entire network. Our ability to self host servers outside of big techs bubble doesn't make the bubble go away.
I don't know where you are living, but in my place there are local "tech collectives" which are non-profit organizations that provide folks with an email address. Of course way too many people are still using gmail, but the alternative is there.
I think what's worse is that you are basically forced to have one of those corporations email account for a smartphone, and nowadays you are basically forced to have a smartphone to participate in society.