The problem with that philosophy is that SearXNG is an aggregator, so if everyone moved to them… who would be paying for the engines that it aggregates?
I agree that no one should ever support a company. But rather establish a set of principles that you want the companies you use to follow, and show no loyalty if they break this.
It is actually the philosophy of !PurchaseWithPurpose@lemmy.world.
It isn’t marked as less private. It is grayed out because it is not based in Europe. I personally use them as I find them the best option with what is out there.
Ecosia is a better balance between experience and independence. Mojeek sadly will be a hit in terms of quality of results.
Qwant is the closest to being independent and Non-US… I was recently told about StartPage being bought out by System1 (A US company)
For Search, it is about finding the least bad option and hope that they will become more independent. Mojeek (fully independent but poor quality) or Qwant (building own index, but dependent on Bing)
In the PrivateSearch section, but greyed out as they are not an EU based company.
Yup! It is noted in the highlighted text in red. I’ve had several people respond that they didn’t know about it, and would be making the switch away :)
A company is not a person. Choosing not to support a company because it ultimately benefits its home country, which is actively waging war, should be considered a negative. Whether it is enough not to use their services is up to each individual. As you said, it is a FOSS application, so if you aren’t using one of their paid plans, how much is it truly benefiting them?
Also, I don’t think this is a “insert current enemy of the West” scenario. Ukraine isn’t traditionally considered part of the West, and it has support from most countries and people worldwide (not just the West).
Sadly I don’t have that answer on the top of my head. Maybe ask in !PurchaseWithPurpose@lemmy.world to whether others might be able to help.