I got distracted from my work so I made some Continuwuity propaganda. Continuwuity is a lightweights Matrix chat server that you can self-host pretty easily. Give it a try :3
I got distracted from my work so I made some Continuwuity propaganda. Continuwuity is a lightweights Matrix chat server that you can self-host pretty easily. Give it a try :3
This is the homeserver written in Rust, right?
A suggestion: wherever a QR code is included, the human-readable content should be included next to it. Not everyone has a QR code reader handy, or their reader has the bad habit of immediately opening links or apps. In this case, I see that it just goes to https://continuwuity.org/ and is benign, but others may be apprehensive at naked QR codes.
(there’s obviously an exception for QR codes that are intended to convey machine info, like TOTP codes)
Agreed that QR codes should be accompanied by text links for accessibility, because many times the scanning fails due to bad light, old camera or shaky hands.
I was very excited when I started seeing QR codes gaining popularity. That excitement was quickly shattered when everyone just started using them improperly and they just made everything more annoying 😮💨
What exactly is “improper use”?
Putting simple things behind a qrwall. I once went to a presentation and they had that qr code to scan to get the certificate, and I went there without my phone, so I got no certificate (I needed it for academic bureaucracy). restaurants with qr-only menus also come to mind. Oh, I also saw once a school with the timetables mural with just qrs and nothing else written, so if new students didn’t have a phone AND mobile internet, they couldn’t find by themselves where and when their classes took place
Basically anytime it’s not printed
It is!
Yeah, I see your point, and I included the link in the alt text. On the actual design itself though, any URL I wrote in could be completely different from the QR so it seems slightly pointless - especially as it would just be writing Continuwuity a third time haha
Including the URL isn’t to act as a check on the contents of the QR code, but to act as an alternative for those who don’t want to scan it at all.
The alternative is to search the name right next to the code in this design
This is not a good idea: having to search means an implicit reliance on a search engine. Even with a trustworthy web search – and those are becoming fewer and fewer – why add this complication? The URL doesn’t even have to be large; it just has to be readable.
Even worse is when there’s an adversary: what would stop someone from buying getcontinuwuity.org but have it be pro-Big Tech propaganda, with tracking cookies galore, and then pay Google or Bing to put it at the top of the web search results?
Whereas in 2026, a URL is not confusing at all to include. People know what http:// or https:// mean. Even big brands might not own their own product name’s domain. This exact problem came up just six days ago: https://www.neowin.net/news/paintnet-can-finally-be-downloaded-from-the-right-place/
The whole point of marketing is to reduce the barriers for people to find something useful or valuable. Adding an accessibility barrier is antithetical to that objective.