Moving away from US cloud services

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Git hosting, CI/CD, and code platforms

  • Many suggest self-hosted forges (Gitea, Forgejo, Codeberg, Sourcehut, OneDev, Phabricator, Gerrit) or bare-bones git servers (gitolite + cgit).
  • People praise Gitea/Forgejo as lightweight, easy to manage, with GitHub‑like UIs and Actions-compatible CI; GitLab is seen as heavy and slow.
  • Others note that PR/CR workflows, issues, and CI integration are the hard part to migrate, not the git repos themselves.
  • Some argue that GitHub/NPΜ lock-in via ecosystem and discoverability is the real hurdle, even if self‑hosting is technically easy.

EU vs US privacy and jurisdiction

  • Strong disagreement: some contend there’s “no difference” between US and EU on privacy; others say this ignores real legal and cultural gaps (GDPR, fewer warrantless powers).
  • CLOUD Act and US surveillance laws mean “EU-hosted but US‑owned” is still legally exposed; examples given (Microsoft EU data vs US sanctions).
  • EU is criticised for its own anti‑encryption pushes (ChatControl, Europol statements), but defenders stress such attempts often fail and are more constrained than US practice.
  • Switzerland is debated: aligned with EU and GDPR‑equivalent law, but outside the EU and economically vulnerable to US pressure.

Cloud providers and digital sovereignty

  • Widespread concern about strategic dependence on AWS/Azure/GCP/O365: a “kill switch” or sanctions could cause systemic EU damage.
  • Some see a need for EU hyperscalers; others doubt Europe can or will match US scale and VC culture, and argue most users don’t need hyperscale anyway.
  • European options discussed: Hetzner, OVH, Scaleway, STACKIT, IONOS, Exoscale, Koyeb, UpCloud, Netcup. Hetzner/Scaleway get praise; OVH’s fires and support draw criticism.
  • Lock‑in via managed services (Cognito, Firebase, IAM) is viewed as the biggest obstacle to moving off US clouds.

Office/email/chat ecosystems

  • Microsoft 365 is seen as ubiquitous, tightly integrated, and “good enough,” especially for large orgs; others describe it as mediocre but unavoidable (Teams especially disliked).
  • Proton gets mixed reviews: strong privacy story and decent mail/pass tools vs weak search, filtering, IMAP support, and vendor lock‑in.
  • Alternatives mentioned: Tuta, Fastmail, mailbox.org, Migadu, Zoho, local ISPs, Infomaniak; many stress open protocols (IMAP/SMTP, CalDAV) to keep exit options.

Self‑hosting, “local‑first,” and broader shifts

  • Multiple commenters advocate going beyond “US → EU” and instead reducing all cloud dependence: local‑first apps, self‑hosted mail, Forgejo/Gitea, Nextcloud, Synology, etc.
  • Others counter that for most businesses, recreating M365/Google Workspace or AWS‑level reliability in‑house is unrealistic; they want European SaaS with clear exit strategies rather than full DIY.
  • Overall sentiment: moving some services (email, DNS, smaller SaaS) off US providers is feasible today; replacing hyperscalers and major ecosystems remains difficult and politically driven.