diff options
Diffstat (limited to '_posts/2023-07-29-plaintext-is-beautiful.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | _posts/2023-07-29-plaintext-is-beautiful.md | 78 |
1 files changed, 78 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/_posts/2023-07-29-plaintext-is-beautiful.md b/_posts/2023-07-29-plaintext-is-beautiful.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06b7c14 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2023-07-29-plaintext-is-beautiful.md @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: Plaintext is Beautiful +date: 2023-07-18T09:27:00Z +tags: [webdev, text editor, development, gopher] +--- + +Alternative title: Why does this website look so different? + +You might notice that the site looks a lot different than it did before.<br> If +you're new, this is how it looked: + + + +For a lot of people, this may have been a lot more of a pleasing design than the +current one. Shit, I still think that design has its merits, but it did have to +change. I will explain why this was the case, and also why I went for this +current design (which I hope isn't too bad!). + +### Performance issues + +So, Chromium-based browsers offer a feature in their dev panel called +[Lighthouse](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/lighthouse/overview/). In effect, +this is a tool that enables a developer to assess the quality of their website +based on some important metrics (a11y, performance) and some not so important +ones (like the dreaded SEO). I don't like using Google-related tools very much, +but out of curiosity I did decide to check how my site was doing. + +Accessibility and (_shudder_) SEO were great, but to my surprise, the +performance score was a disastrous 54 out of 100. To make matters worse, +Lighthouse had calculated that my home page took on average **7 seconds** to +load! This is really bad, especially since it was literally just a couple of pictures +and some text, so I checked what its recommendations were and followed them. I +managed to get the score up to around 70 or 80, but still the website felt +really sluggish. It was at this point that I came to the realisation that my efforts to optimise +the site in its current form were pointless, as the whole design was very +bloated (with lots of images everywhere). + +Thankfully, I had come across some new communities at the time which helped +provide inspiration for a new design! + +### Smolnet, gopher and tildes + +If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that I am a member of SDF, a +public access Unix system. If you haven't, [do it now](/2023/07/11/enter-the-fediverse)!!! + +Anyway, I discovered since then that SDF is not alone in this space of public Unix systems, +and in fact there is an entire federation of these systems (known as "tildes") called the +[tildeverse](https://tildeverse.org). All of these provide simple web hosting as well as +IRC, Usenet and some other useful things. Members of the tilde run services such as a +PBX telephone network, a zine and a Mastodon instance. It seemed that most of these tildes +provided a wider range of free services than SDF (which +requires you to fork out a verification fee in order to do anything - which is totally +fair, but not something I want to pay when I can get it free elsewhere). As a result, I picked +a tilde ([tilde.institute](https://tilde.institute) - because it sounds fancy to be a part of an +institute) and started to get set up with the various services provided. + +It was at this point that I discovered the [Gopher protocol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol)), +because it was a service provided by the institute. Basically, before the current HTTP(S) and WWW protocols +existed, Gopher was a simple protocol that existed for sharing plaintext documents over TCP networks. +Instead of HTML, Gopher has a `gophermap` format to define special pages with links, but most files are served +as simple `.txt` files. The protocol predated (and was largely replaced by) the WWW, possibly because +opportunities to monetise Gopher were much fewer and further between than the main Web, but it has seen +a resurgence in the 21st century among nerds and anti-capitalists alike, which when combined with users +of the newer Gemini and Spartan protocols make the Smolnet, an independent, minimal Web. +As someone who is both, this appealed to me greatly, and I quickly downloaded +[a browser capable of using the protocol](https://gmi.skyjake.fi/lagrange/) and started browsing. I +explored the gopherholes of fellow SDF members, fellow tilde members, and just random people via the +Floodgap directory and search. + +I set up my own gopher hole via the institute and copied over some content +from my regular website (save the blog which was a bit too image-heavy for the protocol). It was as I was +copying these things over that I realised - why don't I apply these principles to my main website? I was +having performance issues on my website, and gopherholes were loading way faster on my device that HTTP +websites ever did, so why can't I make *my* website work like that? I quickly went over to GitHub, tossed out +my CSS file and gave the website this terminal-esque look. I hope you enjoy the new layout! + +That doesn't mean I've abandoned the smolnet - check my gopherhole out at <br> `gopher://tilde.institute/~mounderfod`! |