Just to supply another anecdotal perspective from a beginner (albeit one that’s never visited Techlore), I personally found that this approach resonated with me when I was starting out:
I haven’t been as fast in my switch towards more privacy preserving services and products as I otherwise might, but I’ve appreciated having clear ‘north stars’ to look into, which also made comparisons with other services easier down the line.
I also want to commend the current resources available. Between the recommendations, the knowledge base, the articles/videos, the wiki, as well as this forum, there’s a wealth of knowledge for someone starting out, and I’m enormously grateful. (In fact, I’d recommend for any beginner to read this very accessible ‘getting started’ entry in the Wiki):
That said, I still support the possibility of more guidance in the recommendations, such as the idea mentioned here:
From having lurked here the past two years, there’s been some wonderful insights into why one might (or definitely shouldn’t) go one way or the other that can only be found in forums, some of them requiring you to dig deep. While I agree the forums are for more nuance and discussion, having the recommendations fleshed out a bit more could be helpful for the ones daunted by either the size of the threads or the prospect of joining a community.
(And just to make this long post longer, I want to add a genuine thank you to everyone contributing here. The generosity found within this forum is immense.)