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Author: -fab- <fab@redterminal.org> License: CC BY 4.0 Published on: Mon, 13 Sep 2021 16:17:08 +0200 Last updated: Tue, 30 Jan 2024 15:45:00 +0100
You arrived to this site using a standard web browser? Well...
This site is a "Gemini Capsule" as called by its users. You are reading this through a converting proxy, which makes the Gemini content available for the WWW. For the real Gemini experience, you need a Gemini Browser.
Gemini is a very stripped down internet protocol compared to HTTP. There are no cookies, JavaScript or CSS. But what seems to be a downside is a conscious decision.
There is no special style to each capsule. The structure of the sites is always the same. It's in the users hand how the sites look. No matter if you use a text based terminal client like Amfora or some fancy GUI browser like Lagrange.
So Gemini is content centric. Writers can create their documents without careing about style and readers are less distracted by all the ads and popups.
There are no cookies or browser fingerprinting which are impossible due to the nature of the protocol. So you can hop from site to site without being tracked by the sites itself or greedy ad companies. And because of the immutable design of the protocol, these "features" will never find their way into Gemini.
There are plenty of sites describing Gemini. For a first glance you could read the Gemini FAQ.
There are lots of Gemini Browsers to choose from. In fact, the Gemini protocol was designed so one could write a Gemini Browser (or server) in under 100 lines of code. But if you want a more feature complete browser you could try these:
General list of Gemini software
To admit it: Gemini is a niche space of the internet. It's not meant to replace the World Wide Web. It's made to coexist. And it's much, much smaller than the WWW. By the time of writing this, geminispace.info counts 1075 known domains and 144483 searchable pages.
But it's growing. And there are lots of interesting places. Just like in the early days of the WWW.
You can start searching from these capsules:
geminispace.info - A search engine for Gemini content
Categorized Gemini capsules directory
Astrobotany - Grow your own Gemini plant
After you've collected some interesting and entertaining Gemini Capsules or Gemlogs (blogs in the Gemini Sphere), you could get some Gemini space of your own or even start your own server! Wouldn't it be cool to have your own Gemlog? There are a lot of sites, which offer Gemini hosting for free. Or you can set up your own little server on a Raspberry Pi to serve from your home network if you want.
We would be pleased to welcome you as a first class citizen in the Gemini Space. What Gemini really needs is more unique content. You can even bi-host your site and make it available to the WWW and convince people to use the Gemini protocol, like my little capsule does.
All in all - Have fun!
-fab-
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