In fact, you’re already likely renting rather than owning in many different areas. Your means of communication are run by Meta, your music is provided by Spotify, your movies are streamed from Netflix, your data is stored in Google’s data centers and your office suite runs on Microsoft’s cloud.

Not this one, no.

This one has never had a single Meta-owned account because it values privacy.

It has never subscribed to Spotify or Netflix because it values ownership and control.

It has, since the Snowden revelations, successfully cut Google and Microsoft from its life and replaced them with AOSP and Linux.

It has started to build servers from hardware old and new, running FOSS services that rival and replace most big tech solutions people feel they “need” nowadays.

And it has started to help others take control of their data and computing, move to software and services that respect their rights, and to see value in privacy, ownership and freedom.

It may not be much. It may not scale. And it may not provide “AI” capabilities. But it’s a start. It’s a lighthouse that shows this dystopia is not inevitable.

We need to answer the push towards centralised consumption with a refusal to consume, and a counterpush towards decentralised cells of resilience. If datacentres aren’t profitable, there is very little incentive to only build and sell hardware for them exclusively.

This one has built its lighthouse.

When will you?