😷 DevonI read a wonderful and inspiring article by @brennan about alternative internet protocols. https://brennan.day/gemini-gophers-and-fingers-oh-my-alternative-internets-beyond-https/
How can such a seemingly dry subject *be* inspiring? I remember the wonder of the early internet. The feeling of finding someone with a common interest and learning all the cool things they wanted to share. The feeling of discovering cool and weird art. The obscurity of it all, when everything new and cool felt like finding buried treasure. The idea of stripping away the parts that have enabled it to become a weird authoritarian shopping mall in the last decade or so to get back to that is intensely appealing.
The sad part is that I *like* a lot of the tech that enabled that transformation, but I'd also give it all up to get back to the people, the weirdness, and the fun.
The article inspired me to install bombadillo and poke around to see what I can find.
Gemini, Gophers, and Fingers. Oh My! Alternative Internets Beyond HTTPS
Finger from 1971, Gopher from 1991, and Gemini from 2019. These protocols offer decentralized, terminal-based alternatives to the modern web. The small web's is in a renaissance. On the solarpunk philosophy of intentional technology, and how these protocols meet you where you are, whether you're on a machine from 2005 or just tired of Chrome's monoculture.