Usually in threads about DDG a common refrain is "but the results are worse!" - generally to mean less specific. I always thought that was the feature -- they don't compile a history on you, track your location, etc. As a result, they take a best guess from a global context.
FWIW, I've been a DDG user full time (mobile and desktop) for ~5 years. I have learned to increase the specificity of my search (e.g. start with a programming language before typing an error string). Feels like a very small price to pay to avoid Google.
I found a self hosted whoogle[0] to be a good middle ground.