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.
Edit: If you see comments here which kinda miss the point, appeal to emotions, have faulty logic, or depart from entirely incorrect assumptions: Please keep in mind that big US tech companies can’t say “that’s bad, how will we shovel money with this?”. Please use your critical thinking skills - they are much needed here!
It is much more lightweight and simpler: While you can, but typically won’t write HTML directly with a text editor, you can and typicall would write gemtext markup manually like markdown.
You can run it on a small rasberry pi, using a server like agate, which automatically generates certificates, and if you fancy, you can write your own client browser in a weekend (that’s why there are a lot of clients).
It is very deliberately designed to be minimalistic, to depart from the enshittified modern web flooded with ads, tracking, and slop.
And because of this, pages load instantly.
Myself, I have witnessed the birth of the World Wide Web, designed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, to share information, new ideas and knowledge, and run the first Mosaic browser in 1994, and gemini is very close to the hearth of this original idea.
All HTML and PHP I have written was with a text editor but fair point most people don’t. I still would love to see more cool simple sites like bigclive.com