The journey of tech empowerment and liberation from tech bros can be a long, bumpy road.
-
@ticho @_elena The problem becomes "who isn't"?
Like, I know Andy Yen is leaning heavily into AI Psychosis which will inherently and ironically make the thing Proton exists on: security, less secure. And WHEN they have an incident due to this, Proton is gone. Over. Done. Andy is an idiot in a suit and it's obvious.
But is there another option? Ironically, handling your own e-mail server is extremely difficult due to the political safety layer and insecure for nearly everyone. What's better?
-
@ticho @_elena I'm sure, no worries. I'll just share what I found:
I was looking into Proton last year, but I was like "Surely e-mail isn't that hard."
But then when I discovered you need to be on X number of 'good lad' lists to even get your email delivered to most places, I scratched my head and wondered how you even break into this in 2025 without a corporation. Talk about cold feet.
-
@ticho @_elena I'm sure, no worries. I'll just share what I found:
I was looking into Proton last year, but I was like "Surely e-mail isn't that hard."
But then when I discovered you need to be on X number of 'good lad' lists to even get your email delivered to most places, I scratched my head and wondered how you even break into this in 2025 without a corporation. Talk about cold feet.
-
The journey of tech empowerment and liberation from tech bros can be a long, bumpy road.
The biggest tech regret of my adult life is that I didn't use a custom domain name as my main email address, so that when things invariably go south, I can simply hop to a new email provider.
The hundred or so email aliases I made with #Proton are a real headache right now. Time to clean up my mess.
What am I talking about? This ICYMI: https://www.404media.co/manifestos-fear-and-loser-thinking-inside-protons-ai-reckoning/
@_elena when I was starting my degoogled life this year I had to choose between Proton and Tuta: I am glad I chose the latter, and I do hope that they don't turn out as evil as Proton's CEO did. So far I'm loving Tuta, I hope you join them or find a new, reliable provider soon
-
The journey of tech empowerment and liberation from tech bros can be a long, bumpy road.
The biggest tech regret of my adult life is that I didn't use a custom domain name as my main email address, so that when things invariably go south, I can simply hop to a new email provider.
The hundred or so email aliases I made with #Proton are a real headache right now. Time to clean up my mess.
What am I talking about? This ICYMI: https://www.404media.co/manifestos-fear-and-loser-thinking-inside-protons-ai-reckoning/
@_elena I've always had a bad feeling about this company... Glad I never gave them any money, and glad that there are still alternatives to the supposed alternatives.
-
@wonkothesane @_elena I have seen their replies and people's reactions to them, but I honestly want to believe they will listen to their customers' concerns and rethink about using AI for developing their services. I have always seen them listening to people, while Proton has always been shady to me, so I hope that was just a misstep. We will see in the next months, I suppose.
-
@wonkothesane @gilraen79 what makes me really nervous about Proton is (1) how more importance is given to LLMs' coding vs. humans when it comes to security (2) the toxic culture created by AI-pilled management.
It's not just a blanket rejection of AI, it's more nuanced than that. I would trust a real life engineer with qualms and a desire to be prudent over management that pushes speed and genAI code.
I think alternatives to Proton may have better corporate culture... the bar is pretty low
-
@wonkothesane @_elena I have seen their replies and people's reactions to them, but I honestly want to believe they will listen to their customers' concerns and rethink about using AI for developing their services. I have always seen them listening to people, while Proton has always been shady to me, so I hope that was just a misstep. We will see in the next months, I suppose.
@gilraen79 @wonkothesane as far as I can tell, Tuta's company culture appears to be healthier than Proton's. I already have a Tuta (free) account and I have made my custom domain the default in Proton. Slowly preparing for a possible switch... but TBH if Yen and the AI-pilled CTO step down I may stick around. Reading between the lines it seems that Proton devs and engineers put an emphasis on human code, slowness, and prudence
-
@wonkothesane @_elena I hope for all their customers that Proton replaces its CEO: it would be the best solution for everyone.
-
The journey of tech empowerment and liberation from tech bros can be a long, bumpy road.
The biggest tech regret of my adult life is that I didn't use a custom domain name as my main email address, so that when things invariably go south, I can simply hop to a new email provider.
The hundred or so email aliases I made with #Proton are a real headache right now. Time to clean up my mess.
What am I talking about? This ICYMI: https://www.404media.co/manifestos-fear-and-loser-thinking-inside-protons-ai-reckoning/
@_elena ugh. I was just thinking of moving to proton, too.
-
@ngel I'm waiting to see how Proton reacts to this catastrophic, reputation-destroying story. If Yen and the AI-pilled CTO step down, I may consider sticking around. My unlimited plan renews in May.
For the time being I am changing my "from" email address and using a custom domain name to make the transition easier... I'm also looking at Tuta (where I already have an account)
@_elena yea, same. Only that my custom email is handled by proton 🤨. I’m not in a rush as my subscription renewal is in April, but I don’t like where this is going.
-
The journey of tech empowerment and liberation from tech bros can be a long, bumpy road.
The biggest tech regret of my adult life is that I didn't use a custom domain name as my main email address, so that when things invariably go south, I can simply hop to a new email provider.
The hundred or so email aliases I made with #Proton are a real headache right now. Time to clean up my mess.
What am I talking about? This ICYMI: https://www.404media.co/manifestos-fear-and-loser-thinking-inside-protons-ai-reckoning/
I’ve had a custom domain for my main email since 2004 with unique email addresses for every single website without fail.
It removes a huge amount of spam and fraudulent emails and shows exactly who’s been breached.
I can’t imagine doing email any other way and being able to transparently switch providers has been huge.
It’s never too late. I hope you find a domain you like and can live with.
-
I’ve had a custom domain for my main email since 2004 with unique email addresses for every single website without fail.
It removes a huge amount of spam and fraudulent emails and shows exactly who’s been breached.
I can’t imagine doing email any other way and being able to transparently switch providers has been huge.
It’s never too late. I hope you find a domain you like and can live with.
@svavar thank you Svavar. I've had a custom domain (for my website) for 15 years. I regret not using it as my default email address, sigh. It's already connected to Proton, so I set it as my default mailing address and created a bunch of aliases (for shopping, newsletters, etc.) as I get ready - at a slow pace - to possibly make a switch... number one lesson to impart to my 5-year-old (I bought her a domain name when she was a month old)
-
@_elena I find it ironic proton fight big tech by using big tech (ie claude). Any alternatives? I was hoping for proton to be a more viable alternative to gsuite
Edit: typo
@closeted_unionist @_elena for alternatives there are Tuta and mailbox.org. I'm looking at both right now as I'm closing on the renewal of my Proton subscription...
-
The journey of tech empowerment and liberation from tech bros can be a long, bumpy road.
The biggest tech regret of my adult life is that I didn't use a custom domain name as my main email address, so that when things invariably go south, I can simply hop to a new email provider.
The hundred or so email aliases I made with #Proton are a real headache right now. Time to clean up my mess.
What am I talking about? This ICYMI: https://www.404media.co/manifestos-fear-and-loser-thinking-inside-protons-ai-reckoning/
I'm devastated to hear that #Proton 's CEO and CTO are treating their engineers in a terrible way, blindly trusting LLMs and creating a toxic culture where speed and growth trump security.
I'm not ready to make a radical switch yet but some little actions I implemented today could be useful for others, too:
1) I made my custom domain the DEFAULT email address in ProtonMail
2) I created aliases w my custom domain for shopping, newsletters, admin, etc.Hoping this will make a transition smoother
-
I'm devastated to hear that #Proton 's CEO and CTO are treating their engineers in a terrible way, blindly trusting LLMs and creating a toxic culture where speed and growth trump security.
I'm not ready to make a radical switch yet but some little actions I implemented today could be useful for others, too:
1) I made my custom domain the DEFAULT email address in ProtonMail
2) I created aliases w my custom domain for shopping, newsletters, admin, etc.Hoping this will make a transition smoother
My new approach vis-à-vis transitioning away from #Proton (in a slow way) - cont':
For every new email that comes in that uses one of my Proton email addresses (or aliases), I am making changes, updating the email address for that account (if it's shopping/newsletter/admin) or I am notifying the sender that going forward my default email address will be the one associated to my domain name.
It's a pain, but it's long overdue.
-
The journey of tech empowerment and liberation from tech bros can be a long, bumpy road.
The biggest tech regret of my adult life is that I didn't use a custom domain name as my main email address, so that when things invariably go south, I can simply hop to a new email provider.
The hundred or so email aliases I made with #Proton are a real headache right now. Time to clean up my mess.
What am I talking about? This ICYMI: https://www.404media.co/manifestos-fear-and-loser-thinking-inside-protons-ai-reckoning/
@_elena
HO.LY. F.U.C.K.Thanks for posting that link. I had absolutely no idea! I've been with #Proton for many years, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 because I want to get away from Big Tech, not to get dragged back in via the backdoor.
What a arrogant, dismissive prick, this guy. I feel sorry for the employees, but I'm gonna have to look for an alternative. It really sucks, as Proton Meet and SimpleLogin are really good products. What a nightmare!
-
I'm devastated to hear that #Proton 's CEO and CTO are treating their engineers in a terrible way, blindly trusting LLMs and creating a toxic culture where speed and growth trump security.
I'm not ready to make a radical switch yet but some little actions I implemented today could be useful for others, too:
1) I made my custom domain the DEFAULT email address in ProtonMail
2) I created aliases w my custom domain for shopping, newsletters, admin, etc.Hoping this will make a transition smoother
i felt split between proton and tuta. I guess i made the right choice to go with tuta (for now at least)
-
@_elena
HO.LY. F.U.C.K.Thanks for posting that link. I had absolutely no idea! I've been with #Proton for many years, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 because I want to get away from Big Tech, not to get dragged back in via the backdoor.
What a arrogant, dismissive prick, this guy. I feel sorry for the employees, but I'm gonna have to look for an alternative. It really sucks, as Proton Meet and SimpleLogin are really good products. What a nightmare!
@aerion it's a real nightmare, indeed. I moved to Proton 6 years ago in an effort to DeGooglify. This development has been really upsetting.
Honestly if they get rid of their CEO and the CTO I may stick around... it seems that engineers have their heart in the right place, putting an emphasis on hand-written code and caution.
Otherwise my paid plan lasts for another 6 months and I will slowly transition away from it.
-
My new approach vis-à-vis transitioning away from #Proton (in a slow way) - cont':
For every new email that comes in that uses one of my Proton email addresses (or aliases), I am making changes, updating the email address for that account (if it's shopping/newsletter/admin) or I am notifying the sender that going forward my default email address will be the one associated to my domain name.
It's a pain, but it's long overdue.
@_elena As a protocol, Email is painfully outdated. It shouldn't be so hard to switch service provider, or to protect ourselves from spams and leaked addresses... Sure we can buy a custom domain and set aliases, but that's beyond the average user 🥲
On that note, members of my family were proudly moving from Google to Proton
