Any interest in a gemini site for DLN?
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There’s probably quite a few people who don’t know about the Gemini protocol.
If I were suggesting a decentralized website, it would be ipfs using and unstoppable domain url.
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I think it would be good for DLN to have a presents in the gemini-verse and/or on the decentralized web. I have been working on my gemini site and exploring the gemini space for a little while and I think it is kind of cool. But yeah, most do not know about it. Hopefully that will change.
/Mike
Is it text only like Gopher? (Or am I misunderstanding both?)
While it is text, it can support links, both gemini and http(s) links that would open a web browser.
I like that is simple, fast, and dare I say non-corruptible? To date, my only issue is that the protocol is one-way. It does not foster two-way communication like discourse does. But, it is a great start at getting away from all of the data-gathering and tracking BS out there.
^ this
Gemini is cool AF but the intent appears to be keeping it unpopular by design.
There’s fantastic arguements for doing that but one of the downsides is raising the burden on upkeep vs benefit. I listen to a few youtubers who made geminis in the beginning but when they do follow ups it’s always to say it’s a pain to keep working on and they’ve mostly abandoned it. I think Gemini is only for people who really really like Gemini.
Strictly guessing…
DLN would probably be super stoked by a Gemini fan site.
As for an official one if there was a very easy to follow guide for making a static website with proposed content provided by the community and someone was willing to make sure it stays up that may be a thing but hard to say with everything DLN has going on.
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There are ways to automatically convert html to gemini and vice versa, so you only need to maintain one site. The great thing about Gemini is that, while the protocol is minimal, the browsers can add a lot of features. The Lagrange browser has RSS like feeds and media files can be played right on the page with a little in-line media player.
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I’ve heard of a couple people that are doing this. They create their gemini site then run a script that generates and pushes the html to their website.
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Now, that I’ve spent some time on gemini, I see the first and most obvious use case is for bloggers.
There is a proposal to add a method to upload through the gemini protocal, which currently isn’t allowed. If allowed, this would allow two-way communication or interaction. I think this is what gemini needs. However, the debate of this proposal seems to be somewhat heated.
We’ll see what the future holds, but personally without any type of interaction I think the protocol is self-limiting.
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Umm, Gemini is so very likeable. The web has been sort of getting me down lately, with how evil its become.
I like how it does one thing, and one thing well. It doesn’t need to be all-singing, and all-dancing. Whatever it’s not good at, it gracefully steps aside, and lets you use other internet protocols and software which is better suited.
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My only wish is that the protocol become two-way. Without it, Gemini is just another read-only blog.
For me, the value of Gemini would be much higher if it were interactive.
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Gemini allows CGI and SCGI (allowing some primitive back and forth), but yes, a forum like this one (Discourse) would not be possible, as Discourse has all sorts of reactive features.
As soon as you add that reactivity, you open the door to much of the privacy-violating abuse which plagues the web. Then you lose the Unique Selling Proposition of Gemini: it’s staunchly privacy-friendly by design, not allowing a toe-hold to the scumbags of the world who would abuse that reactivity.
Gemini shines at blogging, as you say, since Gemini “Feeds” can be conveniently subscribed to. That is, of course, granted you don’t publish videos in your blog posts. Gemini doesn’t shine when you have large files, such as videos, to download. That awkward port 1965 it tries to use is going to get QOS’ed badly by virtually all the routers of the world (tackling larger downloads around the ankles). Go ahead and pick any port you like, just so long as it’s port 443. 
BTW: it’s probably better called “glogging”, since the “b” in “blogging” gets snatched away, since Gemini isn’t the web.
Maybe a better request would be that users of this forum can specify a gemini URL (in their personal preferences), if they have one (to their personal glog)?
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Generally speaking its technically possible for Gemini to support everything the modern Web can assuming the client supports it.
The client can send any information it likes to the server via arbitrary URL strings and assuming the client knows how to interpret what the server sends back it can do basically anything with it.
For example… a response may begin a negotiation for delivering an mp4 in chunks requiring auto-loading a sequence of URLs in the background till the download is complete and the mp4 can play.
Problem is you’re working against the tide.
Here’s a neat capsule that lets you play a word game. You need to create a certificate the first time, an easy thing in Lagrange, my browser, and then you press Alt-1 to enter a word. It keeps track of scores using the certificate and keeps a high score list on the page.
gemini://spellbinding.tilde.cafe/
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