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!
Sounds interesting, what is the benefit of this compared to HTTP though? You can still host text or basic html that way and it works on any web browser.
Gopher guarantees readers that there will never be anything other than text and media served on a site. They don’t have to trust the publisher, the protocol enforces it.
For me, it’s kind of the novelty of it. Gemini is separated from the mainstream internet, there’s a mild barrier to entry, so it has a distinct culture and vibe to it
Mild is an understatement. It’s likely beyond the ability of most people to set up. To the extent it’s exclusionary.
I mean, to make a website, that’s probably true. But accessing the Gemini protocol is as simple as installing a web browser
Writing a page means editing a file with a simple syntax like markdown (called gemtext).
Running a gemini server is about as difficult as running a file sharing client.
There are pre-built server packages as part of Debian and its derivatives.
Or, one can install Rust and download and build the agate server. That’s what I did on my Raspberry Pi B. That Raspberry has an Ethernet port and USB port which can power it from my FritzBox. Needs half a Watt of Power when idle. Then, one needs to start the server on bootup. This is done via a service file for systemd.
And after that, one only has to configure a folder for the gemini page files, and configure the home router to allow access to that port of the Raspberry Pi.
The alternative is to get a shell account to a shared gemini server like tildeverse. This is usually free of cost since the software is almost maintenance-free and the power draw is a few Euros per year for the entire server.
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
https://motherfuckingwebsite.com/
Gemini can have competition of browsers: it’s feasible for one person to create a Gemini client completely, correctly and securely.
There are only ~2 web browsers left and making a new one at all is near impossible (forks with minor size changes are great n’ all but not meaningful enough to stop Google basically being in control).
There is a lot of browsers that can show HTML websites though, not just 2. There are even new ones made like https://chawan.net/.
And the only widely used browser not owned by big tech has about 2.2% market share now. And it is falling.
Gemini does less than nothing to solve this though?
One problem is that with this monopolization of the web, browser vendors like Google can yank the standard in any direction they like (for example for more tracking and more ads, or surveillance). And you can’t make another browser because the protocol and features are needlessly way too complex, so it is legally an open standard but practically not. In the end, everyone will have to use Googles browser and suffer the included tracking.
aye I’m with you, though for practical purposes currently Gemini seems a lot like throwing the baby out with the bath water
Seperating the modern web browser into discrete parts and each doing them well seems to be the only logically answer to me. (If ignoring the task of convincing the general public to do anything in their best interests). We already have dedicated video/music player software on our OSs.
That might be the right thing if the bath water is toxic.
It provides a way to share “web” pages (text, images, links) that can be read by a simple minimal client. Without needing a web browser
I think ladybird has been making good progress
See also point 1.1.2 in the FAQ:
Another advantage: The active Gemini user community might be small (it is maybe five thousand or ten thousand people). But compared to personal pages on Facebook or Microblog on Ex-Twitter, or Reddit or LinkedIn it has pretty high-quality content from people who like to write in long form, and also like to read. If you write there, the response / resonance will be more like what blogs or LiveJournal was around 2005. A part of this is that many people write in a personal, candid and thoughtful way. Like that Israeli evironmental engineer who wrote how much he hated to be conscripted for military service. And writing is also self-reflection. Like having a rare view into other peoples mind. ou do not find that on facebook.