netop://ウィビSep 25, 2025
The most succinct and accurate description of the Old Web I’ve seen to date.
Show threadTim ChaseJan 4

@netopwibby @thelastpsion

Which is also why "removing web-advertising and monetization will kill the web" arguments largely fall on my indifference. It might kill a great deal of the current extrinsically-motivated web, but regardless of what happens to it, the intrinsically-motivated web will live on.

Show threadSpark Purcell (they/them)Jan 27
@gumnos @netopwibby @thelastpsion web advertising and monetization is what caused all the problems of the modern day, actually.
Show threadnetop://ウィビ

@ailurocrat @gumnos @thelastpsion Monetization was always part of the spec, just never implemented. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Reference/Status/402

Advertising took over as the dominant method of such.

402 Payment Required - HTTP | MDN

The HTTP 402 Payment Required client error response status code is a nonstandard response status code reserved for future use.

MDN Web Docs
Jan 27 at 8:53pmWeb
Show threadSpark Purcell (they/them)Jan 27
@netopwibby @gumnos @thelastpsion so it was always doomed then. Well, let's build something that isn't.
Show threadnetop://ウィビJan 27

@ailurocrat @gumnos @thelastpsion The commercial web will always exist alongside protocols like Gopher/Gemini. However, those lack JS IIRC which non-nerds depend on.

The Web was built with good intentions but it's been usurped. I do think it's possible to have monetization rails without it devolving into what we have now.

Show threadSpark Purcell (they/them)Jan 27
@netopwibby @gumnos @thelastpsion gopher/gemini are awesome (despite/because of obscurity...) and yes the web started with good intentions (which got crushed by the profit motive)
Show threadTim ChaseJan 27

@netopwibby

Some of us know the world before that though. HTTP/1.0 only had 400, 401, 403, and 404 but no 402 (or many of the other response codes)¹.

Not as clumsy or random as HTTP/3; an elegant protocol for a more civilized age. 😉

@ailurocrat @thelastpsion

⸻
¹ https://www.w3.org/Protocols/HTTP/1.0/spec.html#Code4xx

Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.0

Show threadTim ChaseJan 27

@netopwibby

(okay, to be fair, some of us had gopherspaces before the web was even a thing; basic HTML was a great improvement on Gopher's non-existent markup, but I do miss the simplicity of that time period)

@ailurocrat @thelastpsion