Comment by bluehex | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bluehex | Hacker News Reader

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I think the Gemini FAQ[1] has a good answer to this that I imagine is pretty in line with the Kyuweb proposal author's motivations.

Using an alternative protocol is completely optional for you as a user so I don't think calling it a forced doctrine is accurate. These kinds of protocols are great for people who want to have an experience of browsing a web of documents knowing that they won't be giving up privacy or be bombarded with interactive attention grabbing graphical elements, advertisements, videos etc. If that experience is not something you value, you can obviously choose not to use it.

> I'm all for trying to have tools that filter the complexity of the existing web, but I do not want to cripple it because some of its usages affect my sensibilities.

Filtering the modern web is not easy. Just try browsing with JavaScript disabled and count the number of annoyances you encounter in a day.

[1]: https://gemini.circumlunar.space/docs/faq.gmi#:~:text=Why%20...

> optional for you as a user so I don't think calling it a forced doctrine is accurate.

Sure, if they provide some kind of gateway or mirror. But the moment that their content is only on a gemini server, I have to use a gemini client.

> These kinds of protocols are great for people who want to have an experience of browsing a web of documents knowing that they won't be giving up privacy or be bombarded with interactive attention grabbing graphical elements, advertisements, videos etc.

That is utter, complete bullshit. You don't need a new protocol for that. You just need a client that is a better fit for your needs and that can filter things for you.

> Just try browsing with JavaScript disabled and count the number of annoyances you encounter in a day.

On the flip side, think of all the websites and services in the existing web that use the technology in a sensible way and made your life better. This very website we are talking on would not exist.

By staying on the web and developing tools that improve the clients, we are trimming the downside and keeping the upside. By creating a new protocol you are negating all the upside and denying the existence of the downside it. IOW, you are just shutting yourself out like an ascetic monk. To me is an act of cowardice dressed as something virtuous.

All right, well, I guess this and other ideas just aren't going to appeal to you, and that's okay.

I will keep making sites on the normal web, both for myself and my clients. Hopefully one of those will strike your fancy. But if not, that's okay too.

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