This came about when a friend asked me what solution should I use for calendar with a HEY account.
This got me thinking about the benefits of having a Google account. If people abandon Gmail due to privacy reason, they will still be using their Google accounts for Youtube, Maps, Calendar, Google Docs extra.
So I decided to create a brand new Google account with my personal email address (so no gmail).
It was an interesting experience and as such I would like to share it here:
Itās insightful to not forget about all the other services that google has and the data that exist there. Iām using a g Suite account and feel comfortable with it
Thanks for sharing your experience. Good to look at the different ways you can travel in the Googleverse. It doesnāt have to be this monolithic entity that consumes your data-life if you approach it from the point of only getting what you need and no more.
I just use the built in mail, contacts and calendar capabilities that come as optional is tall packages with my Synology NAS.
Itās all standards-based: IMAP, CardDav, CalDav, and itās on my own hardware. I open up non standard ports on my firewall and it all works whether Iām home or away.
And since Iām mostly home these days thanks to āthe āRonaā its fantastically easy.
Of course I need a custom domain (which I have) and need to setup MX records in my DNS zones file to make it work.
Due to the increasing number of calendar invitations Iāve been getting since shifting to WFH, I too had to make this move as a solution of last resort, even though my mails have been away from Google for years.
First I wanted to go with Radicale on my VPS, then on my Qnap, then Fruux, etc. None was as seemless and convenient as I wanted, especially after using GCal for years.
So I created a Google account with my exact email address. Mails are still selfhosted, but I get a nice calendar (and Drive!)
@josuah
Iām having trouble responding to invitations. Obviously the invite is received on my external email. How have you been able to have invitations sent TO YOU, show up on your google calendar?