commit 6b853bbb9f9853eced9d41994e1ea5504cd5e8c5
parent 538b439f0c3aedc1b2a8c27a34e81c03344928c1
Author: Shimmy Xu <shimmy.xu@shimmy1996.com>
Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2020 00:12:50 -0500
New post: Static Alternatives to Mastodon and Gitea
Diffstat:
2 files changed, 94 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
diff --git a/content/posts/2020-04-04-static-alternatives-to-mastodon-and-gitea.en.md b/content/posts/2020-04-04-static-alternatives-to-mastodon-and-gitea.en.md
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
++++
+title = "Static Alternatives to Mastodon and Gitea"
+date = 2020-04-04
+slug = "static-alternatives-to-mastodon-and-gitea"
+draft = false
++++
+
+Like how I decided to switch off Wordpress, I think I've had enough running
+Mastodon and Gitea.
+
+Keeping up with configuration changes with Gitea had been annoying, whereas with
+Mastodon, breakages are common due the mismatching system library versions
+(mostly protobuf) in the dependencies. While the latter is not a fault of
+Mastodon itself, having to install two package managers (for Ruby and Node.js,
+respectively) just to run a program is rather ridiculous to me.
+
+I started hosting both applications in 2018: Mastadon first as a replacement for
+Twitter, and Gitea later in reaction to Microsoft's acquisition of
+Github. Looking back, they were probably overkill for my needs: my primary use
+case for a git server and a micro blog are both very much single-user focused
+and write-only, which means these content should be available in read-only form
+for my site's visitors, making static pages the perfect replacement for both web
+front ends.
+
+Starting with Mastadon, I'm using the [twtxt](https://twtxt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) format to store and serve my micro
+blog. The format has existed for some time now, but enjoyed a recent resurgence
+in the tildeverse community. While there is now a whole community supported
+ecosystem of various syntax extensions and software seeking to add more features
+to the format, I have found the barebone timestamp-tab-and-then-text syntax to
+be sufficient. The write-and-forget cycle is really addicting, and even more so
+when using a command line client written by oneself (mine is aptly named
+[twixter](https://git.shimmy1996.com/twixter/)).
+
+As for Gitea, while an excellent Github replacement in my opinion, is more
+suitable for a established community than as a personal project dumping
+ground. I opted to manage the Git repositories directly (see Chapter [4.4](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Setting-Up-the-Server) and [4.5](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Git-Daemon)
+of _Pro Git_), and use [stagit](https://git.codemadness.org/stagit/) to generate the corresponding HTML files. These
+stagit-generated pages have replaced Gitea as the new [Trantor Holocron](https://git.shimmy1996.com/).
+
+Now that I have found satisfactory solution for the write-only portion of my
+online presence, I will continue to explore options for the remaining two
+pillars: read-only (content consumption) and interaction (means of
+communication). Web feeds and email are my best answers now, but they still
+don't cover all the bases in my experience.
diff --git a/org/2020.org b/org/2020.org
@@ -252,3 +252,53 @@ Should this indeed be the downfall of humanity, at least my blog and Emacs confi
在病毒爆发期间所读到的新闻经常给我带来一种不真实感：既因为实际发生的事情，也因为新闻那种刻意挑起矛盾的报导方式。好吧，公平地说，要求一个以掠夺人们注意力为食的机构以朴实、不带修饰的方式来报导新闻本身就是一种矛盾。不过话说回来，同样从当前的情况更多地感到兴奋而非不安的我或许没有资格对新闻媒体的做法挑三拣四：仅仅想到这间普通的公寓现在是我抵御尚无治疗方法的病原体的个人要塞就足以让我睡不着觉。
如果这确实是人类覆灭的开始，至少我的博客和Emacs配置将由于[[https://archiveprogram.github.com/][Github存档计划]]继续存在（假设微软没有说一套作一套的话）。在那之前，请保持安全，不要随便离开自己的胶囊生活仓，并做好准备迎接我们一直苦苦等待的荧光色太空时代藻制食品吧。
+
+* TODO Static Alternatives to Mastodon and Gitea
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_DATE: 2020-04-04
+:EXPORT_HUGO_SLUG: static-alternatives-to-mastodon-and-gitea
+:END:
+
+** DONE en
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: 2020-04-04-static-alternatives-to-mastodon-and-gitea.en.md
+:EXPORT_TITLE: Static Alternatives to Mastodon and Gitea
+:END:
+
+Like how I decided to switch off Wordpress, I think I've had enough running
+Mastodon and Gitea.
+
+Keeping up with configuration changes with Gitea had been annoying, whereas with
+Mastodon, breakages are common due the mismatching system library versions
+(mostly protobuf) in the dependencies. While the latter is not a fault of
+Mastodon itself, having to install two package managers (for Ruby and Node.js,
+respectively) just to run a program is rather ridiculous to me.
+
+I started hosting both applications in 2018: Mastadon first as a replacement for
+Twitter, and Gitea later in reaction to Microsoft's acquisition of
+Github. Looking back, they were probably overkill for my needs: my primary use
+case for a git server and a micro blog are both very much single-user focused
+and write-only, which means these content should be available in read-only form
+for my site's visitors, making static pages the perfect replacement for both web
+front ends.
+
+Starting with Mastadon, I'm using the [[https://twtxt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/][twtxt]] format to store and serve my micro
+blog. The format has existed for some time now, but enjoyed a recent resurgence
+in the tildeverse community. While there is now a whole community supported
+ecosystem of various syntax extensions and software seeking to add more features
+to the format, I have found the barebone timestamp-tab-and-then-text syntax to
+be sufficient. The write-and-forget cycle is really addicting, and even more so
+when using a command line client written by oneself (mine is aptly named
+[[https://git.shimmy1996.com/twixter/][twixter]]).
+
+As for Gitea, while an excellent Github replacement in my opinion, is more
+suitable for a established community than as a personal project dumping
+ground. I opted to manage the Git repositories directly (see Chapter [[https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Setting-Up-the-Server][4.4]] and [[https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Git-Daemon][4.5]]
+of /Pro Git/), and use [[https://git.codemadness.org/stagit/][stagit]] to generate the corresponding HTML files. These
+stagit-generated pages have replaced Gitea as the new [[https://git.shimmy1996.com/][Trantor Holocron]].
+
+Now that I have found satisfactory solution for the write-only portion of my
+online presence, I will continue to explore options for the remaining two
+pillars: read-only (content consumption) and interaction (means of
+communication). Web feeds and email are my best answers now, but they still
+don't cover all the bases in my experience.