@FourOh-LLC@matrix World Wide Web is built on hypertext shared over hypertext transfer protocol. Today is something more like a boot loader for JavaScript state machines.
Gemini is an Internet protocol for exchanging GemText. No images, layout, scripting, cookies, or expansion. Single input. Identity managed by self-signed SSL certificates.
Simple to support and as antagonistic to advertising. Not pushed out by the CIA or DARPA through shell organizations or companies.
The World Wide Web was not "built", it evolved to where it is today.
Which should be a reminder to all of us creative people that we do not design and we do not build shit, everything must evolve before it is happily owned by those who had no part in any of it.
I love the idea of this Gemini not allowing anything but text. There were countless efforts over the decades at sustaining a project like this such as - EMAIL and IRC - maybe you heard of them, they have been around for over FORTY YEARS!
Give it time, Gemini will soon support a protocol that punches you in the face when your credit card is declined for hot live streaming porn.
Take a look at this, its one tech replacing IP routing and later the DNS networks. https://pkt.cash/
Learn to bridge your DNS so you can host your web on IPFS or on the blockchains. Its not better, its not cheaper, its not safer - its different and maybe it will finally kill Web2.
You cannot create your own SSL certificate and expect it to work on the internet in the browser.
There was an effort once called the DANE but it failed so we have Let's Encrypt instead, which works well-enough.
Blockchains are slowly transferring us away from all the nightmare of DNS and SSL all that crap, so don't expect a lot of new RFCs that will allow your self-issued (not self-signed) certificates to evolve.
There is an interesting project called Urbit, which was designed with a lot of obfuscation on purpose. The goal is to keep imbeciles out of their network, make daily usage so boring that hippy magazines will not publish about them.
I am looking forward to the day where every word we "publish" on the "internet" costs money. Blockchains are a good start for that, but I want it to be even more expensive than that.
I want people without purpose, with no justification for their shitty little lives to stay off the public networks, stop interfering. Let them have their LAN parties and chat over their cells, and waste their opportunities - but deny them access to the Public Square.
I love the idea of text-only messaging. IRC in the early 90s was the best network I have ever used, because everyone participating was a subject expert in something, and they never confused everyday activity with political activism.
Today, on every network, the majority of people are political activists with little to nothing useful to offer.
So text is beautiful, and its also effective in keeping uninspiring people away from substantial conversations.
I looked into this, I watched a few UT videos, and I now realize that Gemserv is in the YunoHost application catalog.
I will be spending time with this, thanks for the tip. One of my priorities is to track the 6000+ taxing authorities in Illinois and gemtext combined with JSON, or rather the JSON data inside gemtext is something that looks interesting.