cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/24735701
See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(protocol)
It is similar to the old gopher: text files, links, and images form a hypertext optimized for reading. Text is formatted like Markdown - but even simpler.
Clients display text, like an eBook, or images / media.
Servers can run on a PC or Raspberry Pi which needs half a Watt of power. No FAANG companies needed. No expert knowledge needed - not more difficult than running a file sharing client.
I think it is the right thing for defense of democracy and sharing your voice in the digital realm.
What’s wrong with http?
I think the better comparison (whether that’s technically accurate or not) is to HTML + CSS + JS. Which is overly complicated for just small blogs and personal webpages etc. I think that’s the “issue” Gemini is trying to solve.
Still not an issue. Just throw out all modern web frameworks and stick to content-focused HTML. You can even do plaintext with unclickable links.
Have you ever seen HTML without CSS? It’s ugly as hell
Or if you like a more readable markup with a very thin markdown layer on either the client or server side.
I think TeX is the right way.