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Gemini
Project Gemini (FAQ) has been getting a lot of attention in the fediverse lately. I don’t know much about it myself, but I am increasingly curious after reading the specs and motivation for it. It might be fun to make a small site using this protocol.
Lagrange is decent GUI for macOS for browsing ‘geminispace’, apparently.
Last edited by Destry (2020-11-14 09:23:47)
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Re: Gemini
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Re: Gemini
A gemini site has a URI like gemini//domain.tld.
As mentioned earlier, you need a special browser like Lagrange to access/read such sites.
The domain can be one that is already owned and used for a http site, apparently, so no need to buy extra domains, for example:
- https://xhrpb.com/
- gemini//xhrpb.com
(Hope that person doesn’t mind.)
Gemini sites are mainly text-oriented (notes, documentation, etc) but I’m not clear on the full scope of what people are doing yet. Linking is provided for in gemini docs.
I guess, for now, the use of this protocol might be handy for making info available to a limited audience while not being indexable or scrapeable by the regular web automatons. In other words, you don’t have to actively block spiders/bots/etc as you would otherwise if not wanted. At least not yet.
I think the real point of it though is to be a protocol that favours a much lighter internet, by not allowing all the media and dynamic bloat that the regular web succumbed to.
I wonder if archives like IA are storing gemini sites…
Last edited by Destry (2020-11-25 09:42:39)
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This was linked to from the previous article. It’s a good background explainer of the relationship between gopher, http, and gemini.
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Just had a play with it via Felicity gemini browser (which is available on the Mac App Store). Quite like it – although I’m not sure I have a use-case for it, personally, right now.
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Re: Gemini
philwareham wrote #327051:
Just had a play with it via Felicity gemini browser (which is available on the Mac App Store).
I was excited, then… ‘Requires 10.15 or higher.’ Drat! That seems counter to the whole point of this lighter alternative web. I’ll have to give LaGrange a closer look.
Quite like it – although I’m not sure I have a use-case for it, personally, right now.
Yeah, this is what I’m kicking around too. A few test pages are fine, but something a bit more purposeful would be nice.
One thing I’ve been struggling with anymore is wanting to invest in and maintain a personal blog, or whatever; not that I have really done that for a long time — and that’s what I mean.
On one hand I still like to write and edit and that’s really the only reason I keep a web presence anymore, because of my interest in word craft. On the other hand, I struggle to want to blog on a regular basis, and never post most of what I write. One of the reasons for that is today’s problems around privacy, scrapers, archivers, copyright, and so forth, but also because personal blogs just feel like a young person’s thing to do. I kind of feel silly doing it anymore, like the old man who’s outgrown the skateboard, if you see what I mean.
So I’ve been thinking maybe gemini might be the cool old man’s way of personal writing on the web again. Have a Txp site with a Gemini blog for those who can be bothered. ;)
Last edited by Destry (2020-11-25 18:23:41)
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Re: Gemini
Destry wrote #327061:
So I’ve been thinking maybe gemini might be the cool old man’s way of personal writing on the web again. Have a Txp site with a Gemini blog for those who can be bothered. ;)
i hear you. but why not just write occasionally on Wion.Com . That is already setup. With a very cool design and layout. Perhaps it can be made Gemini friendly, whatever that might mean.
…. texted postive
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Re: Gemini
Destry wrote #327061:
On one hand I still like to write and edit… On the other hand, I struggle to want to blog on a regular basis, and never post most of what I write.
Welcome to my world! You might be Atop the ladder of abstraction whereas I’m In the portakabin of procrastination.
maybe gemini might be the cool old man’s way of personal writing on the web again.
I’m definitely looking at this as a possibility. I suspect serving a section of my site using gemini:// is as easy as throwing <txp:header> in the section’s template and using judicial tags inside.
If I can choose a blog focus, instead of a catch-all like I have now, I might give it a shot. Gemini feels very much like using Lynx in those early days before Netscape Navigator arrived. Back when it was all about the content and not the graphics. And I love content.
The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.
Txp Builders – finely-crafted code, design and Txp
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Yes, what bici wrote! Maybe you can “echo” your blog writings to Gemini?
Otherwise, though, the readership on gemini is probably/currently very restricted. The plus side may be you make more meaningful connections, but it will likely be less diverse.
I like mastodon for some of the same reasons – firstly, that it’s not run by twitter and secondly that there’s room for diversity – but I have to say, in my circle of connections at least, there is a more alternative crowd but it’s also actually (in my perception) less diverse. There’s still more intersections of diverse interests and chance discoveries to be had on Twitter, you just have to wade through quite a bit of noise in-between.
…but also because personal blogs just feel like a young person’s thing to do. I kind of feel silly doing it anymore, like the old man who’s outgrown the skateboard, if you see what I mean.
Only if you leave it to the youngsters. I’d say that’s all the more reason to have a blog at your age ;-) (by which I mean our). Besides, the youngfluencers of today just use video. Writing is still a valued craft.
One of the reasons for that is today’s problems around privacy, scrapers, archivers, copyright, and so forth …
I get that. You can, of course, leave out what might be too private and not publish what might be too copyright-worthy. But there’s a big space in-between.
I would have thought profiling is the larger problem. Stef uses a kind of “smokescreen strategy” on his site for that though I suspect more for humour than to deliberately befuddle search engines.
TXP Builders – finely-crafted code, design and txp
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jakob wrote #327069:
I suspect more for humour than to deliberately befuddle search engines.
Hehe, yeah. I did wonder if the constantly rolling titles and straplines would trick search engines into indexing content by thinking it had changed when they respidered. Probably not. I just use it for frivolity now. And ‘cos Powered by Textpattern. Copyright © 1066-2020 makes me grin.
EDIT: and if you want a laugh, you should see the ads down my Facebook feed. My “birthday” is in 1900 or something so I occasionally log in and just smile at my little fuck-you to the ridiculous algorithms that target me with keep-you-alive medication, walking aids, stairlifts, retirement and funeral plans for this decrepit 120-year-old geezer.
Last edited by Bloke (2020-11-25 23:12:55)
The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.
Txp Builders – finely-crafted code, design and Txp
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Re: Gemini
Bloke wrote #327068:
I’m definitely looking at this as a possibility. I suspect serving a section of my site using
gemini://is as easy as throwing<txp:header>in the section’s template and using judicial tags inside.
Keep us posted here if you proceed with experiments. I was wondering, too, how much would be feasible from a txp install, if anything.
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Re: Gemini
I found this post The state of the web has lead me to only one conclusion: It is broken beyond repair. and the links therein useful and of interest.
…. texted postive
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