💾 Archived View for mampflesbe.xyz › gemlog › 220425.gmi captured on 2022-04-28 at 17:39:39. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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Content:
the guy from Twilight Zone (Copyright CBS 1959)
Imagine if you will an internet ruled by capitalism. Where simply looking up information is made a nerve wrecking task: by giant cookie windows blocking your view or a paywall that goes up just as you get to the relavant part after spending five minutes reading filler text that says nothing and isn't even slightly helpful. Where privacy from corporations is basically unattainable. An internet that's under constant thread of being turned into solely a money machine.
Refuge from the commercialisation of information can still be found online: Wikimedia and the Gutenberg project, open source software and cc licenced media - life savers for those of us who feel like they're drowning rather than surfing in the www of today.
But that's only part of how we use the internet nowadays. Let's talk social media for a minute. Being social on the web has come to mean the following:
Social media is, more often than not, very unhealthy. It draws you in with the promise of finding like minded souls and then it gets you with a culture that needs to comment on everything anyone ever says or does in a contant struggle to seem superior to this random person from across the globe. It's easy to forget that there is a person behind the screen. It's easy to forget that keeping your thoughts and opinions to yourself is an option.
The parts of the web that are personal, little websites by people who aren't selling anything and who simply wish to have a nice time, are hard to find. Often maintained by so called "old web enthusiasts" - it is aparent that the current web has forgotten that there is an option of expressing yourself online that doesn't include doomscrolling or bringing about constant dread.
Neocities.org, webrings and PUBNIX (Public Access Unix system) website hosting: all things that the average web surfer knows next to nothing about.
I'm not trying to convince anyone to start a website. But if I'm given the choice between looking at an influencers Instagram page full of product placement or looking at a shitty neocities website with an ugly layout that breaks every single law of webdesign and a 88x31 button collection full of gifs that say shit like "internet explorer is evil" I'd definitely choose the latter. There a thrilling charm about the honesty and freedom of a website made but for the fun of it.
Unfortunately, capitalism has been working ever diligently in the opposite direction towards hooking people into unhealthy computing practices. It can feel hopeless hearing my loved ones actively complain about how Facebook and Twitter make them feel bad yet continue checking their timeline throughout the day. … By reconsidering the utility of time-tested protocols and hobbling together a few new ones, a growing community of people are leaving the proprietary world of flashy social-media websites to slow down and enjoy life accented by computers, not controlled by them. … On the Small Web, communities host themselves which means cross-domain browsing is very much encouraged and an important feature of the network at large. Real people, not corporations, host the Small Web.
- Talon (https://talon.computer)
The small internet is maintained by people and communities who aren't out for your money. They don't want your cookies or your likes but you can talk to them about their work and recommend their sites to other people. It's small because it doesn't need to be big; it's a section of the internet that we should never have forgotten.
There is a big chance that you are currently reading this log over the gemini protocol. If that's the case you hardly need me to explain it to you. There is, however, a very possible chance that you are reading this on my website - in which case you might be desperately asking yourself what gemini even is.
Gemini is an internet protocol that has been around since 2019. What is an internet protocol?
Well, I can't explain the funtioning of internet protocols to you because I am not a computer scientist. I can, however, give you a short explaination which will probably suffice.
Since you have evidently been browsing the www in the past you are familiar with the most commonly used internet protocol of today: https.
Gemini is like that but different.
Other than the web, geminispace is almost entirely text-based. You can think of it like a really old, ugly website with a rigid structure or a fancy ftp server, if you know what that is.
Gemini capsules cut all the bs and show you only what's important. Gemini uses a special file format callled "gemtext", which is very easy to understand (but more on that later). A gemini page can include links, pictures, audio and really everything you could want to put online.
Most webbrowsers can't access geminispace, so you will need a proxy or a gemini client.
Is gemini better than the web? This depends on your criteria.
If I have a question, should I search it over the gemini protocol? Probably not.
Can I discuss the newest episode of my favourite show on a forum in geminispace? Not really, but I guess you could go to a Usenet group if you feel like it.
If given the choice between running a blog over http or gemini, which should I choose?
Ask yourself the following questions:
Gemini has a lot of "downsides". It's not very accessible (you need extra software to read it) and only few people use it compared to the web. It's not fancy, it's small, there's not much direct interaction, many functions require a certificate, etc pp.
These don't have to be downsides though: it's easy to write gemtext, a small audience and a friendly setting can be a blessing, there are no cookies or corporations - it's the definition of smolnet.
People don't use it despite those features but because of them. It's a growing community of all sorts of people.
Gopher is another text based protocol. It was developed at the University of Minnesota in 1991, around the same time as http. Mainly used by American universities and other educational organisations at the time, it kind of coexisted with http for a while until ultimately being discarded in favour of the WWW. It's similar to gemini in many repects but, since it's way older, a bit less.. good (sorry gopher fans).
Less file types are supported, the language is harder to write and it's less secure than gemini (which requires TLS - if you don't know what that is you can think of it like the difference between http and https).
Here's an example of gemtext:
According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. =>/bees a local directory called bees =>bee.gif a bee
The same as a gophermap:
iAccording to all known laws of aviation, there is no thissite.com 70 iway a bee should be able to fly. thissite.com 70 1a local directory called bees /bees thissite.com 70 ga bee bee.gif thissite.com 70
What am I trying to tell you with all of this?
Well, really I'm just trying to explain why I like the small net. Maybe I'm advertising for it. I think the small internet isn't just a place for computer scientists and hackers.
I prefer having my stuff in a gemini capsule rather than a website.
With a website I always have the problem of redesigning it every few weeks because I'm no longer happy with it. Gemini doesn't let me design my capsule.
Less people see my content on here - so I can worry less about how good it is or if my writing is embarrassing. It feels like a more friendly environment overall.
Web3 is going great - updates on the failings of cryptobros (HTTPS)
SDF - PUBNIX comunity since 1987 (HTTPS)
Tildeverse - a loose association of PUBNIXes (HTTPS)
Project Gemini homepage (HTTPS)
Gemlog Blue - lets you write a gemlog through the www (HTTPS)
a small list of helpful gemini pages, including free hosting services (gemini)
