I’m a reluctant user of Google Keep. Would be great if Librem One eventually had something roughly equivalent in terms of features as part of their suite.
I’m aware that there are several FOSS alternatives out there, but I am non-technical and want something that is part of a single suite of services.
If you’ve been seeing similar posts like this from me lately, it’s because I want a G Suite alternative rather than having to research and figure out many disparate services and apps.
A great self hosted FOSS project to replace most Gsuite/Zoho/MS365 features is called Kolab Groupware.
I don’t know why instead of offering it as part of Librem services they decided to focus on some matrix chats,
mastodon instances etc. But well, maybe your feedback will help 
Interesting. I wasn’t aware of Kolab.
I reckon the first company to provide a viable G Suite alternative that is easy to migrate to will have a huge market opportunity. Beyond individual privacy enthusiasts and activists, I can see the ethical software approach being appealing to governments, educational institutions, and scientific organizations.
Businesses too to some extent, but I know that most just want to get things done quickly and easily, and so it will be hard for them to be convinced to give up the likes of G Suite just based on principle. Time is money, and so any downtime due to migration or retraining staff will cost them.
As for why Purism hasn’t gone with a provider like Kolab, perhaps they prefer to cherry pick individual apps so that if something goes wrong with the core project, then they can swap it out for something else. Whereas, if the consolidate with a provider of a full suite, then if that goes bad, they are more vulnerable. A strategy of diversification, perhaps.
Like Framapad?
I didn’t really know about Framasoft until recently, but the sheer amount of stuff they do is mind-blowing.
Main page says “Framasoft has more than 50 projects. Check all of them”, but if you then click to see the full list, apparently they don’t even mention all of them, for example PeerTube is missing there.
Next time I feel the itch to use G Forms or Doodle, I’ll try Framaforms and Framadate instead.
Kolab (being a groupware) seems to target the needs of companies.
While Purism also has an enterprise segment, librem.one targets the “normal dudes”. (And I think it makes perfect sense, not only with the potential effect of switching more people to free software, but also from a cost/benefit ratio perspective).
Sure. But lobbying. Over and over. Just a few examples.
France I France II
Munich Is Ditching Linux For Purely Political Reasons
Another one on Lower Saxony, unfortunately only in German.
If you’re fluent in Portuguese, add Brazil to the list. (stolen from this thread)
There are also positive examples where the lobbying did not (yet) work, like the french government wanting to standardize on Matrix for instant messaging. Background and video.
I moved to and enjoy Kolab, through KolabNow, because it was a suite of inter-connected features for which I was looking. As @Caliga mentions, it seems targeted toward organizational use, but I find it well suited for individual use. I see it as a major positive that it can support organizations and thus potentially obtain their backing.
it hits all the right marks for me so far, though not yet perfect. Also supports standard protocols so that you can get your devices and apps of choice syncing up. Including contacts (instead of to the Ministry of Love), calendar, etc.