Toaster-friendly web protocol Gemini attracts criticism for becoming exclusive clique
- Reference: 1643295012
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/01/27/gemini_protocol/
- Source link:
Described by network engineer Stéphane Bortzmeyer at [2]FOSDEM 2021 as a new ultra-simple protocol that is modern but "looks retro," it was designed to help the user opt out of "pervasive user tracking [and]... distractions from the actual content."
Some of those with a penchant for irritating spelling call it the "smol web." It's light enough for vintage computers, and easy to create both clients and pages. It's not designed to replace the web, but as an adjunct to it. It also makes it much easier to host your own site. As the project points out, it's "heavier than gopher... lighter than the web, [and] will not replace either."
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Sounds all good so far… but the protocol is beginning to attract controversy as it takes off. The most recent statistics put "Geminispace" (all resources "published on the internet via the Gemini protocol") at [4]1,997 capsules , up from 1,200 in September. Each "capsule" is limited to 10,000 URIs.
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A post this week gained a lot of traction on Hackernews forums, when a software engineer calling themselves "マリウス" – that's "Marius" to gaijin – called it "solutionism at its worst". They argued in a [7]blogpost that Gemini is an answer to a problem that doesn't exist and encourages a bunker effect, excluding people who use ordinary web browsers, perhaps due to accessibility issues.
Developer Andre Garzia responded that [8]Gemini was "a little gem" , arguing that it's fun, lightweight, and simple enough to hold in your head, and it's not a threat to anything.
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The "Cheapskates Guide to the Internet", meanwhile, welcomed it, characterising Gemini as a sign that the [10]"old internet" is "quietly coming back." While the site's author encouraged users to take a look at it as a tool to bypass the usual Big Tech suspects, they also endorsed, for the same purpose, [11]the controversial Tor network , [12]ZeroNet – which apparently uses Bitcoin signatures as site IDs and Bittorrent to transfer content, enough to make this writer flee in horror – and finally, hypothetical deities help us, web3. This author has already [13]opined on the extreme uselessness of that .
Is it worth getting involved?
There's nothing wrong with Gemini. It does what it says on the tin. The web is just one protocol that runs on the internet, alongside a [14]legion of chat protocols , email, SSH, file transfers, and many more. There is perhaps more to worry about from [15]China's proposed New Internet Protocol , but that's a different issue.
The internet is already decentralised: that's [16]what it was designed for . There are already decentralised social network systems, such as [17]ActivityPub and Mastodon , and Diaspora ( [18]despite its early troubles ), as well as the new [19]Bonfire .
What Gemini brings is simplicity. You need minimal technical skills to set up your own Gemini "capsule". That's a very good thing; a lot of the modern web is just too damned hard for non-specialists. It all started to go [20]wrong in the 1990s, as Zach Holman's seven-year-old rant so amusingly describes.
There are many minimalist programming competitions out there, from the [21]Obfuscated C Contest via the Java [22]4K Game contest to many retro-computing [23]demo contests .
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There are some entire websites that fit inside a [25]single HTML file . Some are practical tools, such as [26]Tiddlywiki .
[27]No JavaScript, no trackers, no SSL security: Retro computing boffin gives Google News a Netscape 1.1 makeover
[28]Happy silver jubilee to JavaScript, king of the web at 25 and still hanging on to its crown, for now
[29]Lawmakers propose TLDR Act because no one reads Terms of Service agreements
[30]Mobile networks really hate Apple's Private Relay: Some folks find iOS privacy feature blocked on their iPhones
There are also some proposals for simplifying content, such as Jeff Huang's [31]This Page is Designed to Last . There are working, usable, graphical web browsers that don't support JavaScript, such as [32]Dillo and [33]Netsurf . If you just want to stay with your current browser, you can install [34]NoScript . It's worth trying because it's surprising how fast even the modern web can be. It can even be [35]fun .
The older, simpler Gopher protocol hasn't gone away either. Install [36]OverbiteFF and explore. [37]Quux.org is a good place to start.
Maybe it's time for a new contest to design the most minimalist websites possible. Sites written in nothing but HTML; no Javascript, no CSS, just flat, non-interactive web pages, but which still look good and work well. ®
Get our [38]Tech Resources
[1] https://gemini.circumlunar.space/
[2] https://archive.fosdem.org/2021/schedule/speaker/stephane_bortzmeyer/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YfLPukYfApU7gCz7iNqidgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://proxy.vulpes.one/gemini/gemini.bortzmeyer.org/software/lupa/stats.gmi
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YfLPukYfApU7gCz7iNqidgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YfLPukYfApU7gCz7iNqidgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A6%E3%82%B9.com/gemini-is-solutionism-at-its-worst/
[8] https://andregarzia.com/2022/01/gemini-is-a-little-gem.html
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YfLPukYfApU7gCz7iNqidgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://cheapskatesguide.org/articles/old-internet-coming-back.html
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/03/tor_browser_upgrade/
[12] https://zeronet.io/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/15/web3_apparently_the_next_generation/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/19/friday_foss_fest/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/04/we_have_huawei_to_make/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2013/01/03/operational_internet_anniversary/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/26/facebook_apple_amazon_netflix_google/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2010/09/16/diaspora_pre_alpha_landmines/
[19] https://opencollective.com/bonfire-networks
[20] https://zachholman.com/posts/only-90s-developers/
[21] https://www.ioccc.org/
[22] https://jvm-gaming.org/
[23] https://demozoo.org/
[24] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YfLPukYfApU7gCz7iNqidgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[25] https://john-doe.neocities.org/
[26] https://john-doe.neocities.org/
[27] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/29/google_news_netscape_port/
[28] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/05/javascript_25_anniversary/
[29] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/14/tldr_act_terms/
[30] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/11/in_brief_security/
[31] https://jeffhuang.com/designed_to_last/
[32] https://www.dillo.org/
[33] http://www.netsurf-browser.org/
[34] https://noscript.net/
[35] https://www.wired.com/2015/11/i-turned-off-javascript-for-a-whole-week-and-it-was-glorious/
[36] https://gopher.floodgap.com/overbite/
[37] http://gopher.quux.org:70/
[38] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Simplicity
Well I run a website for a car club which is all html and css only.
No need for any javascript or analytics asi get those from the hosting provider for free and they are direct from the server logs.
The only complex part on the site is the slideshow on the front page.
Search for East Anglian Tiger Owners Club if you are curious.
Re: Simplicity
I went to a site yesterday that sold stuff. Everything was moving - backgrounds, product shoots, "lifestyle" shoots, all over the place, some that followed down the scroll - and this was with my normal level of shields up. It reminded me of those early crappy Flash sites from the early noughties, but in high-definition. I'd lost interest long before I found a way to show what they actually sold, never mind actually buying something.
One of these ---> for Gopher references
Especially capitalized, because that's the way those boffins at the University of Minnesota meant it to be.
Early '90s, they even used Gopher+ forms that students would fill in to obtain network accounts (telnet access, email, etc.). Just one of their many tools in addition to SLIP (dial-up for DOS) and Minuet (e-mail, Gopher, and newsreader client for DOS) to help students get connected.
A toast to my birth state and family school: SKOL!
Re: One of these ---> for Gopher references
Gopher, SLIP and Minuet... my university days are flashing back!
Keep It Simple, Stupid.
I whole heartedly stand behind the KISS principle. The smaller, lighter, simple the site the fewer security holes inherent in it's use. You can't have JS exploits if you don't use/allow JS in the first place. You don't open the Adobe Flash/PDF reader can of worms if you don't include flash nor PDF's. You are unlikely to introduce glaring security holes if your entire site fits on a 1.44MB floppy & can be parsed by a Human.
Graphics are fine as long as you keep them small & to a minimum. Full screen backgrounds are not.
If you feel the need to resort to CSS, consider clubbing yourself in the head with a copy of HTML V1.1 For Dummies until the urge goes away.
The lighter, smaller, & simple your site, the faster it will transfer from your host to the visitor, the faster & cleaner the visitor's computer will render it, and the more traffic you may enjoy for not being yet another internet cesspit.
But then whom am I kidding? I'm just an old & crotchety luddite whom created the corporate site for a global telecommunications company, using nothing but Notepad, that fit on said floppy, and gave all our field techs the ability to access any of the terabytes of product repair manuals quickly over a dial up connection.
*Sigh*
Re: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Next you'll be suggesting we make our own tea rather than sit our cars at the drive through choking on exhaust fumes waiting for pumpkin spiced 900 calorie drinks. Its just too simple.
Re: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
The basic idea behind CSS is fine, put the formatting for a site in one file, so that you don't have to duplicate it in each html page. It's the same idea as moving code that you want to re-use into a function (or your language's equivalent), rather than having duplicated code throughout your program.
Sure, people have abused CSS to create abominations, but then people can write some complete nonsense in a basic textfile, and waste your time just as much.
Simplicity
“ There are working, usable, graphical web browsers that don't support JavaScript”
While I applaud this idea - everyone here knows just how awful the average website is when it comes to the huge piles of crappy js that they use - I wonder how far you can get with this. More and more websites I have visited lately simply display a blank page if js is disabled. Or you get text but no pictures (or more baffling, you get a few pictures but not the rest - try bing picture search for an example). It’s a shite state of affairs but I can’t help thinking the ship has well and truly sailed on this. I think the idea of a simplified web is fantastic and I wish it all the very best. I’m just not confident in its success - it needs considerable buy-in by many many people, and I think the inertia of a crappy js-chocked web is just too big now