The News

The French and German governments got together to release an open-source Notion alternative called "Docs", which is a collaborative document editor that could potentially replace non-EU platforms like Notion, Confluence, Google Docs, and others. This move towards digital sovereignty comes after increasing and growing interest in the #BuyFromEU movement (the corresponding subreddit where people share product recommendations and alternatives has over 170k members), as people start to boycott the United States of America because of President Donald Trump's recent actions.

Docs
Docs: Your new companion to collaborate on documents efficiently, intuitively, and securely.

Docs is developed by France's Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM) and Germany's Center for Digital Sovereignty of Public Administration (ZenDiS). Both agencies are mainly working towards the goal of funding and organizing digital projects that improve digital sovereignty. ZenDiS has also created openDesk, an Office- and Collaboration-Suite, and openCode, a platform to introduce Open Source in German administration.

My Thoughts

Although, I am not that active on Reddit anymore, I found multiple links to the r/buyfromeu subreddit within my timelines recently. The growth of that subreddit was remarkable, and it was amazing to see on one hand how many great products come from the EU, and on the other hand it was alarming to realize how many products are actually owned by US-based companies. I always preferred buying locally, especially when it comes to groceries (I mostly buy those hyper-locally), utensils, home appliances, but when it comes to digital subscriptions, I still rely on a lot of products from companies that are not based in the EU.

If I take a quick glimpse at my iPhone's home screen and my Mac's dock, only my note-taking and writing app (Capacities), my main browser (Vivaldi), my task manager (Things), and my launcher (Raycast) are products from companies based in Europe, that I am relying on every single day. While my most used apps are actually products from Europe, there are so many more that I am using regularly which are not. I am sure that if I would sit down and do my research I could probably replace a lot more digital products with European-based ones. It always felt wrong when I hear people saying that there are no alternatives, that Europe is worse when it comes to technological innovations, that there are no great apps or software that gets developed here. You just have to do the research and surface them, as in a lot of cases those product are competing with big tech giants from the United States. What I also observed is that a lot of European tech companies are not 'screaming' as much as US-based companies when it comes to marketing. For example, if you are using Google Chrome and you are not relying about Chrome-specific features, there is probably no argument against switching to Vivaldi, but while Vivaldi appears to me as a calm and resilient company, Google Chrome's ads are all over the place, entitling itself as the best browser.

There are a lot of great alternatives, you just have to look for them, instead of being lazy and taking the one option that is just dancing in front of you.

And therefore, this initiative by two governmental agencies to develop an app as an alternative to products like Notion, Google Docs, or Confluence, operating in a crowded area (document editing), is greatly appreciated. Although, Docs is primarily built as a tool for local agencies and companies, and probably not individuals (since it is Open Source you can still self-host it by following its documentation), it is the initiative itself that matters here most. For a lot of companies it is the easiest thing to simply default to the tools everyone else is already using, and in a lot of cases this comes at the cost of privacy and security. From the screen recordings and screenshots on the Docs website, I can tell that the app does not look bad at all, definitely more structured and organized than Notion, which often overwhelms users once a company knowledge base grows, it features real-time collaboration which allows you to invite public officials or external partners, it has flexible export options, and you will soon be able to transform documents into knowledge bases as Docs is working on subpages, a powerful search, and the ability to pin important documents.

This joint between France and Germany is super interesting and exciting. According to the website, they are always looking for new public partners (as they are currently onboarding the Netherlands), so it will be interesting to see how that joint might lead to even more innovative projects.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the growth of the r/buyfromeu subreddit and the push by European governmental agencies to create alternatives to popular digital tools show that there is a real movement towards supporting local and EU-based tech. While many of us still use non-EU products, especially for digital stuff, there are actually plenty of great European alternatives out there. You just have to look for them instead of going with the first option that pops up. These European options often prioritize privacy and security, which is a big plus.

The collaboration between France and Germany to develop an open-source document editing tool is a perfect example of this. It is exciting to see European countries teaming up to innovate and offer alternatives to the big tech giants. By supporting these initiatives and seeking out European products, we can help build a more diverse and resilient tech landscape that benefits everyone in the EU. So next time you are looking for a new app or tool, take a moment to see if there is a European option that fits the bill – you might be surprised by what you find.

Till next time! 👋‌‌‌‌

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