For those, who do not know what the Gemini protocol is, think of it as a modern, light-weight HTTP alternative without CSS or JavaScript. In layman term, you could see it as Web 1.0 reinvented. It uses GemText instead of HTML. For folks who want to try it out, you can either install a Gemini extension for your HTTPs browser (which kinda defeats the purpose, as modern browsers are heavy), or download a dedicated Gemini browser like Lagrange. Here’s a few sites you can access in Gemini.
Personally, I love it, although I miss a few stuff, like for example, multimedia, streaming and stuff like that. The memory foorprint is very low, and pages are super-fast.
The advantage is that it’s an obligate web 1.0 (-ish) experience. You aren’t clicking a link on a Gemini site that is going to take you anywhere crazy. There’s no tracking pixels and embedded content to get in the way.
It’s possible to attempt this by just following web 1.0 standards on your w3 site, and only linking to sites that do the same, and so on, but eventually there’s going to be a like button or an embedded video or something that ruins the experience. The web is messy.
Smaller spaces with constraints can be a lot of fun. Working within those constraints can breed innovation.
Looking at the Gemini docs, I feel like I can recreate a way to add tracking and embed content. I could be wrong. But it looks possible.
And if that is the case, once marketers see the potential, all the tracking, popups and gated content we all love so much can happen on Gemini.
Possible only if you add that functionality to Gemtext, but currently not something you can do with existing clients. It’s pretty much just modern Gopher.
combine with tor(orbot)
Sure, but untill web browsers support the protocol natively, it will never take off
This completely misses the point.
Why would you not want a broader adoption of the system?
because the point is not broad adoption, the point is not what features it supports, the point is the features that it doesn’t. It can’t track you, it can’t advertise to you (effectively), it’s meant to replicate that pre-corporate-enshittification feeling the WWW once had. The creators never imagined it would get as big as it even currently is.
I still don’t see why it would be bad for browsers to add support for the protocol, that would only ever increase usage of the system, promoting the system and the ideas of the creators.
Example, one of the first times I used IRC I fiest began using a web based IRC client called CGI IRC, then I got on Chatzilla, a Firefox extention, then moved to mIRC, then added the Noname Script to mIRC, then moved to HydraIRC, after that I moved to Quassel, then I settled down on irssi for several years, untill I slowly moved away from IRC due to lack of time.
My point is that with a low barrier to entry using a web client and then a Firefox extention before jumping all the way in made it easier for me to join, and never hurt IRC in any way.
The same is true for Gemini, having a simple system with a low bar to make text content, and a simple way to access it will only be beneficial, it will lead to others finding it quicker, creating a more robust system, then as users mature they will find better clients and use those instead.
To claim that the creators don’t want people to use the system is just ridiculous, if they didn’t they would have kept quiet about it, it slso goes directly against the goal of creating a pre enshittification community if no one can use it.
There are limitations in the system, let those be used to preserve the old time feeling, without stopping specific types of clients
Well, firefox used to have support for gopher, but maintaining it was too much work and support was removed in firefox 4.0. Even now, with it gopher and gemini being the most popular they’ve ever been, neither of them have built-in support from any major web browser.
Also, it’s not that the creators don’t want people using it, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that they didn’t expect the level of adoption they currently have.
Ok, so supporting Gemini in the webbrowser would be too much work for the web browser devs?
Ok I can see that being a reason why they wont do it, but not would it would be bad for Gemini if they did.
As for the creator’s expectations, I don’t see how those are relevant.