Question Which software ecosystem do you use?

[Dickie]

So, here's a random question.

Over the years I've ended up with my data, files etc across several ecosystems such as photos in Google photos, general stuff in Dropbox and notes in Evernote. I've also ended up with a OneDrive account as I use MS Office. I'm debating just throwing my lot in with Microsoft with the exception of Google photos as there isn't really an alternative. I'm curious to know if anyone else here has done the same or has any thoughts on the risk of putting all your data with one company? I've been bitten in the past by companies shutting up shop and closing their services but can't see that happening with Microsoft any time soon. It just seems madness to have 2 or 3 different services all doing the same thing...

 

[4throck]

I have 2 external USB drives with all my stuff. I even do video editing based on those drives (of course, cache files are on an internal disk).
Works well, although the drives tend to slow down as they get filled, but it's still quite fast. Much faster than internet uploads...

 

[Artlav]

I keep all my files on my own NAS, with multiple backups. Use google services for shared documents and one set of encrypted offsite backups.
Don't really trust cloud storage to continue to exist ever since MySpace decided to close out of the blue 20 years ago, giving almost no time to download the data.

Guess the part relevant to your situation is "multiple backups".
Big companies might not flat out disappear these days, but there are many contingencies like photo services deciding to recompress the files, "unlimited" services adding limits, free services becoming paid, laws getting passed that block stuff, AI filters removing documents they think are offensive, and so on.

So, pick the ecosystem that maximizes your productivity, and treat the rest as backups.