After a few test/celebratory posts, I suppose I better write something substantive in here. You know, make use of this thing and all that. So here it is, the first, introductory-ish post.
I'd love to tell you why I'm here. I suspect it's pretty similar to the reasons many of this community are here, i.e. I have grown tired of the overshared, overtracked, overadvertised-to monoculture that is so much of the Internet today. I miss the days when, instead of 5 big websites, there were dozens of tiny communities you could go to with their own cultures, moderation guidelines and content. Reading the Cheapskate's Guide article about how the old Internet is coming back inspired me to make a contribution of my own to the movement, which set me on the path to discovering Gemini. There are edge cases, for sure, but I mostly prefer to receive information in text form; I don't care to sit through a video when I could read and try for myself in the same time. Gemini seems to accomodate this preference perfectly.
Ultimately, I have long wanted to self-host some project on a Raspberry Pi. To me, the Pi is the eel's hips, something to which I credit much of my latent interest in Linux, programming, networking, etc. With this device, you can be the sysop of a tiny little server. I know there are plenty of other ways to do that, using a VPS or old laptop or something, but I was instantly smitten with the idea that this tiny little credit card in the corner of my room was hosting something on the massive Internet that anyone could come visit. Maybe it is hard for me to articulate, but the Pi made "technical" computer use click for me in a way that other things simply couldn't. Of course, the Pi isn't particularly powerful, so while installing a LAMP stack was a fun exercise, it didn't strike me as the ultimate use case for the device. Oh, and while I consider myself technical (and absolutely willing to learn!) I am still newish to this game. I'm not yet at the point where I am designing and implementing some crazy new app or platform, and the security implications of hosting something like that still make me nervous. But a Gemini capsule/server/whatever you want to call it seems perfect. The Pi can host it, no problem, and it's simple enough for me to get started with room to add more as I go along.
So anyway, there's my intro. For now. I'll probably elaborate more when I feel like it, but I'm going to go eat a porkchop now. If you read this far, welcome and thanks for stopping by.