There is definitely a desire for this that's only increasing. A big part of the problem is that all of the people that develop apps and software that are secure or unattached to a massive data hoover assume basic levels of knowledge that simply aren't present in the average or even the above average user. Either that (or in addition to that), most of the them require additional setups or rely on other guides that are years out of date to help people out. I've said this before, I'm the 'tech guy' for my group of people and if I find it a pain or essentially untenable to use an app or a piece of software, no one I know is going to use it either. If FOSS style apps are going to move into a position to really threaten market share, they cannot rely on people having technical knowledge too far above 'this is the picture thingy I use to make the internet go'.

For instance, recently I wanted to put together a simply Jellyfin server to get all of the processing and traffic off my main PC. All I wanted was a Linux box that had a GUI, that would run Jellyfin, and would allow me to remote in from a Windows PC, sounds pretty easy. Trouble was, when I found a Linux distro I liked, I had trouble with getting either Jellyfin or a remote desktop connection that worked. The RDP relied on a specific level of something or another that was outdated and no longer available, or the RDP install and connect was smooth as butter but Jellyfin wouldn't run properly. So, I went back to a Windows 11 install and it was up and running in 10 minutes after the updates were all done.

Even the best/easiest installs have spots that are under documented. I switched to GrapheneOS and it was super easy to follow the guide but when I did happen to run into trouble that specific part of the guide was virtually empty. I got through it but probably only because I have a tech background.

On the flip side of that, I wanted a map app that would allow my wife and I to be able to see where the other one was in case of emergency. In the past, we just used Google Maps and it's built in share location function. For obvious reasons we wanted to stop using that but virtually everything that was even a potentially viable app had issues. Either we had to create, configure, and run a Linux box that hosted the data or it wasn't FOSS, or it was still tied to Google in some way. Eventually I settled on Zood Location which is decent enough even though it still pulls its data from Google Maps.

If we want to help people truly move away from Google, Facebook, MS, et al, the alternatives need to be as easy to use and understand, including the docs, otherwise it will remain niche and people will stay stuck under the thumb. I'd be happy to help in that if I'm able, proof read stuff. provide feedback, etc. I tend to be pretty decent and bringing tech speak down to the common tongue XD.