About

Aqumbo is my little nest of the internet to showcase my ideas, plans and to journal my progress of how to get back some of my digital autonomy and stop being dependent on a few big tech companies.

This idea has been building in the back of my mind for the last few years - the internet used to be better. And i realise i sound like an old grumpy man, but i really feel like something has changed for the worse. Back when i was younger, the internet was more de-centralised. It was not just a few massive tech companies who controlled what information people accessed. Everyone could and did create their own little websites and filled it with whatever they thought of sharing.

I have never really been part of "social media", but i did have a Facebook account, i have had Instagram on my phone. But i don't feel like it ever gave me anything special, and then there is the doom scrolling. This coupled with only two mobile phone ecosystems, the enshittification of the mainstream PC platforms and all our data on the servers of a few big tech companies.

There need to be a better way to use the internet.

I started back way back in 2017 with a switch to using Fastmail for e-mail and started to switch out Android apps to open-source ones. But now in 2026 with the world changing, i want to step up this change and start to get back my digital autonomy.

This list is what i have decided need to change in my digital life.

The List

• My mobile phone should be as open/free as possible
• My computers/servers should all run open/free software
• I should have a homelab and maybe server(s) at some non-hyperscaler hosting provider
• Try to keep my data inside my local jurisdiction
• Run my own services for things that i deem needed in my life

Documentation & The Handbook

I have already done some of the items on the list. But here on this website i will scribble down my own documentation for what i did and how it was done. It will be done in posts in the journal and a more comprehensive documenation in the Handbook.