FOSS Challenge? What?

In October 2023, I became aware of nix’s 30 Day FOSS Challenge, where one is challenged to reduce their use of unfree and proprietary software and try out alternatives that are free and open-source.

While I had a short FOSS spiel in October, I participated significantly more in April of 2024—the month in which the FOSS Challenge traditionally occurs—and now we’re back at it with my 2025 FOSS scheme. Let’s touch bases on where I’m at and where I want to go. I’ll also offer some teasers for what you can expect from this blog this month, so stay tuned. 😉

Where I’m at with FOSS.

It is the -1st week of April, 2025, so let’s talk about FOSS. We’ll divide this into three categories—operating systems, services, and software—which should cover basically anything I do with devices.

Operating Systems: 75%!

I’ve basically got four devices in my house: an LG Gram 2-in-1 laptop, a Google Pixel 8a, a Steam Deck, and a Roku Smart TV. We’ll gloss over the TV, as I’ve no confidence that I’ll be able to change the OS it’s running.

The laptop.

Last April, I decided that the very best way for me to get involved in my first ever 30-Day FOSS challenge was to install a new operating system on my only computer (the LG Gram). Surely, nothing could go wrong. I pivoted from Windows to a dual-booted NixOS setup (though this dual-booting was largely just for show; Windows got precisely 64 GB of space, and I only ever used it once to screenshare when Wayland/GNOME had lacked support).

It’s time for me to cut out Windows entirely and to reclaim that sliver of hard drive. Unfortunately, Windows is at the front of my disk, so I’d have to do a bit of shifting. We’ll see if I can get around to it.

Otherwise, I’ve been having a fantastic time with NixOS. You’ll hear from me sometime this April on how my year of Nix has gone, but if you’re curious, my NixOS system configuration is open-source and (hopefully) well-documented on GitLab. It’s also licensed under MIT No Attribution, so go crazy with it!

The phone.

Turning to my Pixel 8a, the operating system it’s running is… well, nothing yet. I don’t actually use a Pixel 8a, yet. For a few years, I’ve been using a rather beat-up Pixel 4a running Google’s stock Android operating system, and the rapidly passing end-of-life (and a $110 discount) persuaded me to upgrade. However, I’m not very happy with Google-flavored Android, and I’ve been wanting to make the switch. Thus, for the second year in a row, I will be changing the operating system on one of my primary devices.

For this endeavor, I’ve decided to go with GrapheneOS, which I’ve heard good things about from nix and others. Expect a one-month review towards the tail end of April.

The deck.

The deck runs Valve’s included open-source SteamOS, so we’re already good here. While I considered switching the deck over to Nix, this is ultimately more hassle than I wanted to put in. I’m glad I get a freebie, though!

Services: A few to cut!

Services will make up the section I’m most excited to sift through. I’m not big on services, especially the paid variety. Let’s see what we can cut, starting off with those paid services:

• Spotify and Hulu. I pay ~$6/month for the Spotify/Hulu student bundle. Seeing as I’ll be graduating soon (and Spotify deadnames me by my account name), I’ll be dropping the service no later than when the price jumps. Therefore, I’m in need of a good way to play music—preferably one that actually supports artists. Any recommendations here would be greatly appreciated.
• Bitwarden. This one goes for a mere $10/year. Bitwarden is a freemium open-source password manager, and I absolutely adore it. The service is fully-functional as a free user, I’m only paying for integrated TOTP and security reports.
• YouNeedABudget. At around $9/month, I’m not too thrilled to be paying for YNAB, but a budgeting app is a necessity. I’ll definitely field recommendations (especially of the open-source variety), but this one’s low on my priorities.

As far as software goes, that’s really all I’m paying for. Not a bad place to be starting at, for sure. However, this is nowhere near all my services. Looking at just the ones offering software, we have:

• Gmail and Google Calendar. As far as free services go, these are the ones I’m looking to cut. I’ve already moved off of Google Drive and don’t use Google’s backup services, but Gmail hosts all of my email accounts. I’ll be actively looking for (and fielding suggestions for) alternatives.
• Discord. I am no longer a Discord fan. While I have been (and will continue to) actively look for alternatives, most of my friends use Discord as their main communication channel, so this will be hard to replace. That being said, I’ll definitely accept some suggestions.
• Steam, Epic Games, Minecraft, et cetera. Unfortunately, I play games, and most of these games are closed-source. While it’s a major source of the unfree software I use, I’m not going to be focusing on games much this month. nix has done a search for some really cool free open-source games in previous years; I encourage you check those out.
• GitHub and GitLab. I’ve moved all my repositories from GitHub to GitLab (the latter of which is FOSS), but I would be curious in operating a private, self-hosted instance. Something to look into, I suppose, but likely not in scope (or budget).
• Others. I’ve got an assortment of other accounts/services (software or otherwise) I no longer have a use for. Now might be also a good time to clean those up.

All together, I can’t say I’m in a particularly bad place, but those that I do want to replace are likely to be quite the chore.

Apps: What stays and what goes?

Sorting through the apps will be another important chore for me, especially considering the switch to GrapheneOS. Let’s start with my laptop, though.

NixOS’s configuration requires me to identify what “unfree” software I want to allow to be installed to my system, and that gives us quite a short list. Discounting those we’ve already covered as services, all I’m left with is Aseprite, a free open-source project with an unfree license. I’m not sure how this one feels to dedicated FOSS users.

Turning to the phone, I’ve got a lot more to sort through. Conveniently, moving to a new operating system means I get to pick and choose what stays. I’m not super big on mobile apps, so most of the apps I have installed are correlated with certain specific services (like banking, public transit, and cellular), so they’ll have to stick around. However, I’d like to call out a few free open-source apps I’ll be sure to install:

• Firefox has been my browser-of-choice since before I made the switch to NixOS. I’m a big fan of Firefox’s tab container feature on desktop, and the mobile app works fine too. Will certainly stick with it.
• Signal will be my free, open-source messaging app of choice. Their privacy policy, as seen on Reject Convenience’s (YouTube) livestream, was a strong pitch.
• StreetComplete is a fantastic little open-source app to help out with contributing to OpenStreetMap, another thing I hope to do plenty of this month.

What’s in store for April 2025?

Now that everything is on the table, let’s go through my goals for the month. First up, those with top billing:

• Migrate to GrapheneOS.
• Find a good alternative to Spotify.
• Move off of Gmail.
• Contribute to existing FOSS communities, particularly OpenStreetMap.

A bit lower on the priority list, I’ll also look into the following:

• Get rid of Windows on my laptop for good.
• Migrate to a personal Git instance.

You can additionally expect a blog post every Tuesday in April checking in on my progress and whatever FOSS I’ve been interacting with lately.

Happy FOSSing, everyone!