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Updated version of this post, 2020-09-03
I've only known about gemini for a few days now, but so far I like it. But as I always do when I encounter something new which I'm tempted to incorporate into my life this way, I have to ask myself, why do I like it? Are the things I like about it inherent to gemini, or are they ephemeral, or could I find them in other places? Where does it fit into my life? Overly dramatic questions maybe, but I still want to answer them.
First, the protocol. I love that gemini is such a simple format, and such a simple protocol, where you're in control. Whenever you load a page it loads only that page, no external requests are made. It's always over TLS. I wish every web page that didn't require interactive features was on here, because it's much better than the http web in ways important to me.
Gemini is not just a small protocol, at the moment it also has a small user base. Is the small user base part of what I like about it? How different would it be, if there were millions of users and millions of sites? It's a hard question to find the answer to. But I guess either way the protocol would still be very nice.
Part of my experience with gemini, is treating it like it's the fabled "old web" (which I've never actually experienced). I think this is just a fantasy, though. I've already mentioned the advantages of the protocol, calling it "the old web" seems like just a rhetorical flourish that doesn't actually add anything.
(Edit 2020-09-03: In retrospect this sounds rude, I don't mean to dismiss other people calling it the old web. It can make sense for others to call it that. But for *me* personally to call it the old web doesn't really add anything, and only risks confusing my thinking with nice-sounding words I don't actually understand, so I've decided to avoid it.)
I asked this question at the beginning, and I guess the answer is really simple after all. It's just a simple place to post stuff. I don't expect to get followers in any blog, http or otherwise, so the small user base of gemini doesn't bother me either.
2020-09-02 by ML
tag: gemini
tag: life
tag: md
tag: mr