Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini and Techrights: Still Growing in Gemini Space and Always Supporting/Loving the Protocol

Video download link



Summary: As we continue to expand in Gemini space (where our very large site became a very large and likely the largest capsule) it's worth explaining some of the overlooked merits of the protocol; unlike the World Wide Web (WWW) it does not impose things on the user/visitor, who is more or less in charge

THE value of stories isn't in images or in number of "hits"; what counts the most is accuracy and exclusivity, e.g. our EPO exclusives and 'explosive' exposé (in the journalism sense). Just merely repeating what some other sites say (like re-announcing some distro release) isn't of much value; over time the interest in such stories will decline rapidly. How many people will bother reading a release announcement or article about Firefox 10 and Ubuntu 12.04 (in 2021)? Almost nobody. Not to mention sites that lie and promote rubbish... that sort of stuff does not age well as it rapidly slips into irrelevance.



A lot of what we publish is almost timeless and it recently formed the basis for this new wiki page about the GNOME Foundation.

"How many people will bother reading a release announcement or article about Firefox 10 and Ubuntu 12.04 (in 2021)? Almost nobody."Readers of Techrights increase in number, IRC participants grew in numbers for a number of years, WWW traffic remains high, and we've been seeing in Gemini about 30,000 requests in the first week of this month (or 35,000 for the first 8 days). We saw just over 4,000 hits on the audio files of TechBytes this past week, and some more things are planned for the site (I spoke a lot with our sysadmin this morning). The site has just turned 14.5 years old, as noted earlier today (almost 30,400 blog posts so far).

In the video above I start with some mental notes (sporadic thoughts and scattered 'mindfarts') before getting to the main point, which is why Gemini excites us. It helps readers focus on what's actually important, it takes the attention off superficial things such as images, it improves accessibility, and tackles clutter. Everything it serialised. That's a design principle, an artificial and intentional limitation.

The Web kept growing for a number of decades and it ushered in unnecessary bloat, piggybacking the growing capacity of Internet networks. But we need to step back and think if we really need all that...

Roy in BerlinThat's me in Berlin 2.5 years ago when we moved between servers. It was a stressful period in my life because the previous webhost was shutting down (there was a deadline) after almost a decade. So I spent a lot of Christmas that year just worrying about what to migrate, how to migrate, what needs testing and so on. A lot remains to be done, still. The upgrades are very slow and they include not only sites but also git repositories and various services. Collaboration depends on those. The latest change was code that helps limit the size of the video gallery to just one-month portions (e.g. for the current month alone). Programming reference pages/manuals have meanwhile been converted to Gemini protocol and format. Moreover, as per the mailing list, some Git stuff can be done over Gemini instead of the Web. That's what happens when so many geeks embrace something and extend it to suit their needs, without extending the underlying protocol.

Over the coming weeks or maybe months we'll try to release some of the code by branching or setting apart things that are ready (safe) for public access and things that for the time being need further preparatory work. Some of the code is Gemini stuff, programmed specifically to convert Techrights and accommodate the capsule (35,495 pages at the time of writing).

Gemini will probably never replace WWW, but it works well in tandem and it reduces the load/strain. Otherwise it's difficult and potentially expensive to operate a very large site. There are other benefits, enjoyed by those who are easy to forget. To quote a new article entitled "What I Learned by Relearning HTML": "Accessibility was also something I had never considered in depth. I knew that images should have alt descriptions, and that was about it. One of the course’s key points is that using the appropriate semantic elements is important to making a site more accessible."

We urge readers to not only get a Gemini client but also to create their own capsules. It's not hard. It can also be very cheap because provisioning typically involves one's home computer (or single-board computer).

By the way, the wife's Viber call went off towards the end of the video. Thankfully it was the end of the video anyway.

Schloss Charlottenburg Berlin
Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin

Recent Techrights' Posts

Lucas Nussbaum & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
There Were Several Waves of Microsoft Shanghai Layoffs in 2025, Western Media Continues to Turn a Blind Eye to Chinese Layoffs of an Epic Scale
Sometimes select Taiwanese news sites (published in English) or automated translations are all we have
Brett Wilson LLP Spreads Trumpism to the United Kingdom, Looking to Profit From 'Legal Colonialism' (Overriding Sovereignty)
There's growing recognition of this conundrum worldwide
Distinguished Lecture by Richard Stallman This Coming Monday in Rome
After "Free software, Crucial for Freedom in a Digital World"
The Lawsuit by Clients of Brett Wilson LLP Against Brett Wilson LLP is Officially On, It is Progressing, The 'Experts' Pick Outside Law Firms (RPC and Mills & Reeve) to Spare Them From Litigants in Person
So it is probably quite potent
The 'Culture Wars' in Free Software Have Gone Out of Control
Social control media amplifies such utterly infantile discourse
Teaser: To Compensate for the Fact Our Clients Are Terrible Human Beings Who Strangle Women (While on Microsoft's Payroll) and We Get Paid by Mystery Parties We Bombard You and Your Wife With Almost 10 Kilograms of Legal Papers
If you can't win an argument, then drown the other side with papers?
Now Confirmed in Western Media: Microsoft Azure Layoffs This Month
Affirmed by more sources moments ago
 
Microsoft Has Just Lost Privacy Case in Austria and Its Latest Moves Make a Complete Ban Seem Imperative
Microsoft is not a software company, it's a spying agency that uses software to collect data
The Register MS: Microsoft is the Security Expert, Not the Prime Culprit, So Buy More Microsoft
This front page feature is devoid of any actual substance, it's just Microsoft copypasta
Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Stefano Zacchiroli (Zack) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: "Palm Computering", Further Exploration of Slide Rules, and Key Takeaways from The Well-Grounded Rubyist
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 11, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 11, 2025
Tomorrow: Founder of the Free Software Foundation and of GNU/Linux, Richard Stallman, Speaks in Roma (Rome), Italy at 4PM
GNU/Linux is more important than ever in this dystopian world
Microsoft and Apple Are Rare Topics in Geminispace
in Geminispace it's rather safe to assume everyone is into BSD, GNU/Linux, and sometimes retro
Qualcomm and Manchester United Appear to Have Dumped Microsoft (Qualcomm Now Invests More in Linux, Apparently)
It's a relief to no longer see Microsoft logos and brands on a local football club's gear (I'm not a Manchester United fan, but not a foe either)
As Guest of Honour in Rome, Founder of the Free Software Foundation to Speak ("Distinguished Lecture") After Introduction by Leonardo Querzoni
Happy hacking...
All Things Open is Proprietary
The OSI has become a front group of proprietary software openwashers, led and sponsored by proprietary giants
When Microsoft Lays Off Lots of Workers They Say It "Invests in AI" (a Lie), Now It's "Reshuffles" or "Microsoft Tightens"
Microsoft "news" by bots
"I saw Richard Stallman give a talk in the mid 80s, which began my fear and loathing of software patents" and "Richard Stallman was always right."
"By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction — moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological."
The Demise of Shopping in Person
In a world like this, how valued is the customer?
We Are Safe in a Modern "Tech" Society, Right?
People are safer if they control their own computing
This Past Friday, "Nearly 700 People Came to Listen to RMS!" (Richard Stallman)
"Nearly 700 people came to listen to RMS!"
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Churning Out Plagiarism and the Slopfarm LinuxSecurity Turns to Pseudonyms
Our hunch is, UbuntuPIT will sooner or later realise that this toxic approach is just harming UbuntuPIT and tainting the reputation of past articles
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: Nyctography, Gerrymandering, and Lurking
Links for the day
Links 11/10/2025: World Mental Health Day 2025, Another European Legal Defeat for Microsoft 360
Links for the day
MIT Technology Review is Part-Time SPAMfarm of Billionaires and Mega-Corporations
Does MIT operate its own "b2b" SPAMfarm?
Open Source Initiative Executive Director Leaves, Replacement Sought by Monopolists, Not the Community or OSI Members
Serves to show who runs this show...
Links 11/10/2025: China-US Tensions Grow Again, "Hey Hi" More Widely Recognised as Bubble Made of Capital That Doesn't Exist
Links for the day
Peter O'Callaghan QC represented grandparents, Westernport Hotel, at Liquor Royal Commission
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Either The Register MS Divests From FOSS Coverage or Liam Proven is on Long Holiday
Publishers perish when their audience loses trust in them
Microsoft Cancelling Another Datacentre is a Sign of Financial Trouble and Lack of Growth
The debt continues to grow
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: An Evening at the Fair and Fast Fourier Friday
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 10, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 10, 2025
Geminispace is Very Large
The word continues to spread and the number of participants grows
Another Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, This Time During National Day Holiday
This time it's China again
10 Out of 10: RMS Attracts Massive Audience in Göteborg, Sweden (All Seats Occupied, Some People Standing)
a 55-second clip of his talk
Staying Happy in Times of Crackdowns on Civil Society
Optimism in this sort of "new reality" or "new normal" seems like something for the irrational person
"Nobel" Exploited Posthumously for "AI" Hype, Now They Do the Same With "Quantum"
ere have been many jokes about "Nobel" for peace (often granted to pro-war people) and a fake one for "Economics" (establishment propaganda)
Slopwatch: Plagiarism and "Linux" Articles by Bots
Sites that do this won't survive; many of them rely on slop services (suppliers) that will cease to exist after the bubble bursts
Links 10/10/2025: Putin Admits Russia Downed Azerbaijan Airlines Jet, More New Heat Records
Links for the day
Noteworthy Claim That IBM is Firing a Lot of Lawyers This Week (RAs in the Legal Department)
A lot of what they do is patent 'trolling' or lawyering up against their own staff (e.g. HR disputes)
Links 10/10/2025: US Judge Bars Attacks by ICE On Journalists and Protesters; “We Took The Freedom of Speech Away” Says the President
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Serial Sloppers, Google News Gifting Slopfarms, and Fake News/Plagiarism About "Linux"
Google itself is a slop pusher these days
Qualcomm, the New Owner of Arduino, Blasted for Its Software Patents Tax on 'Smartphones'
A lot of Qualcomm's patents are on software. We wrote about this in prior years.
XBox Layoffs Rumours, Downtime, and Criticism From XBox Co-Founder
"everyone is ditching the xbox."
Links 10/10/2025: Honoring The Legacy Of Robert Murray-Smith, Many Articles on the Hey Hi (AI) Bubble
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: October Gothic and Reading Middle Earth Role Playing; C and Ada
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 09, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 09, 2025