Because you wouldn't be actually switching so that's not lock-in, that's just you expecting free stuff forever.
Anyway, I understand your point. I also want free stuff and I also want all my free stuff to be exactly what I need. My criticism is more than you selecting a provider, not paying for it, know what the problem is then complain it's not what you need despite knowing it in advance. What also was problematic for me is that your title is not correct.
Finally, maybe you are technically right (which I do not believe) but you can see from the total number of downvotes to your post and the upvotes on my comments that, at least in this community, your interpretation is being quite criticized.
To end on a pragmatic note : please PLEASE do get funding (it does not have to be your own money) for Proton to provide forwarding for free for all email addresses. I'm sure nobody on this community would complain about that, I surely won't!
PS: if you are into lock-in and tech, consider reading "Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy" by Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian - ISBN 087584863X - Harvard Business Press 1998 and if it's a bit too much here are my notes on it https://fabien.benetou.fr/ReadingNotes/InformationRules written 15 years ago.
Maybe I'm missing something, do you often communicate via email to your bank?
I know I do not. Pretty much never ever. That being said if I were to have to, rather than via their website or phone call, I can update that data on my bank account. I'm sure I must go through few (security) hoops to do it but I doubt it takes me more than 5min. In such case... I would put whatever email and I need to switch because I don't want to pay for that domain anymore then I would just update my contact information there.
TL;DR: I also use my own domain name for banking but in my case I'd argue it doesn't matter much.
if you think switching from gmail is hard, just wait until
I actually did switch from GMail so... I feel like I'm a relatively good place to talk about precisely this problem.
It also was very easy because I used my own domain back then. I switched from GMail to Proton and nobody noticed. I didn't have to change 1 single account or warn 1 single person.
OP is not talking about switch email providers in general but rather a very specific case which is indeed problematic but is not IMHO related to lock-in.
Yes, paranoia is not healthy. When people can't formulate a realistic threat model then usually to be "safe" they assume everyone is out there to get them ... while failing the most basic steps, e.g. not relying on surveillance capitalist fueled tools voluntarily.
No, Proton email addresses do not. I have ProtonMail addresses using my domain. If tomorrow I point to another email provider, Proton can do nothing about it.
Being paid feature vs free is not vendor lock-in.
You are spreading misinformation, either by misrepresenting the situation or by not understanding what "vendor" (an arguable term since apparently you are focusing on the free version) is lock-in means.
Wish I could explain you in detail how that's not correct but I'm actually going to play Clair Obscur on my 2080ti on Debian, sorry!
PS: been playing for years with NVIDIA drivers, including VR games, and sure it's not 100% perfect but neither Windows drivers are. It sure is enough for me to keep on playing (and working) without major issue though. Anyway, gotta play!
actually using the Web, not apps, namely Meta control the content sure but not the browser and browser vendors are trying their best to make the experience safe
not using a browser made by a vendor that is in fact an ad company
using a browser with privacy measures, e.g Enhanced Tracking Protection
use 3rd party extensions, e.g. uBlock Origin, AdBlock Plus, DeArrow, Ghostery, JS Shelter
use containers or private mode when browsing doubtful content
can’t access any GitHub repositories without having to sign in. This is becoming frustrating.
Yes... also can't search.
This is supposed to be OPEN source yet, enshittification by Microsoft here goes down its inexorable path. It started nicely then slowly but surely popular features are blocked behind restrictions, unpopular features are shoved down people through, more marketing is used to try to convince users are actually wrong, etc.
Please, do leave the platform and help others to do so.
To be fair though Gitea is by default much lighter than alternatives... because it's also minimalist. There are but default no runners, no testing environments, etc that e.g. Gitlab provides.
Because you wouldn't be actually switching so that's not lock-in, that's just you expecting free stuff forever.
Anyway, I understand your point. I also want free stuff and I also want all my free stuff to be exactly what I need. My criticism is more than you selecting a provider, not paying for it, know what the problem is then complain it's not what you need despite knowing it in advance. What also was problematic for me is that your title is not correct.
Finally, maybe you are technically right (which I do not believe) but you can see from the total number of downvotes to your post and the upvotes on my comments that, at least in this community, your interpretation is being quite criticized.
To end on a pragmatic note : please PLEASE do get funding (it does not have to be your own money) for Proton to provide forwarding for free for all email addresses. I'm sure nobody on this community would complain about that, I surely won't!
PS: if you are into lock-in and tech, consider reading "Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy" by Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian - ISBN 087584863X - Harvard Business Press 1998 and if it's a bit too much here are my notes on it https://fabien.benetou.fr/ReadingNotes/InformationRules written 15 years ago.