This wouldn’t be a problem if we didn’t have unrealistic beauty standards for pdf files

Are people really so ignorant that they don't know Linux and Windows have built in compression tools?

Wait, I answered my own question.

I mean the bigger problem is on the download, not upload. Many of those sites are inserting malware in your files.

But there are actually some sites that are open source, self hostable, and don't actually require you to upload files at all, they're processed on your local machine. Some examples are:

• Mazanoke for photos
• vert.sh for images audio docs and video
• pdfding and Stirling pdf for pdf docs

Some actually local examples are:

• constrict (Linux/flathub) for simple video compression
• handbrake (IYKYK)

This is a hidden ad. Don't be fooled.

And here you place an ad for paid software that's also a black box. What am I missing?