There’s a new application-layer Internet protocol like (but also very much unlike) http by the name of Gemini. It was first launched in 2019 and until yesterday, flew completely under my radar. It’s primarily meant to be used for uncluttered text-only pages (although any type of file can be distributed), which are created using a deliberately simple and limited markdown language. Unsurprisingly, this results in a plethora of small niche blogs being published through it.
The basic user experience is essentially the same as browsing the web, until you notice just how much it isn’t. You enter URLs (except that they start with gemini://) you read texts and you click on hyperlinks - except that every page looks exactly the same due to the markdown language. There are no pop-ups, no ads, nothing autoplays, nothing wants your consent to exploit your user data. Even images only load when the user clicks on them. It shows just how little is actually needed, how many aspects of the modern web are completely unnecessary and mere pointless distractions.
Gemini pages - and this is a small hurdle that will keep most people away from it - can not be accessed with a normal web browser and instead require a specialized client for viewing (although paradoxically, creating pages often requires a web browser, at least for now). The idea is that both the underlying tech and the browsers are much more straightforward than anything related to http and html. A Gemini client is not effectively an entire operating system of its own that can execute near arbitrary code. It displays formatted text with basic images and videos - that’s it.
Here’s a neat, but slightly outdated introduction that also recommends a few clients and where to find pages to read:
The entire thing feels very early, tiny, experimental and odd, almost like a parallel reality, as if the World Wide Web didn’t exist and someone came up with something like it only now, using today’s hard- and software. If Lemmy is a response to social media in general and reddit in particular, Gemini feels more like a response to the World Wide Web as a whole or like a time machine back to a highly idealized version of the early days of the information system (the primary difference being the lack of horrendous '90s UX design and malware everywhere), including some unfortunate aspects that I had long forgotten about, like how the common method of finding content next to feeds - manually updated indexes instead of search engines - is plagued by dead links; and these dead links, unlike on the normal Internet, cannot be attempted to be resolved using the Wayback Machine or some other cache, at least not yet.
Gemini is equally parts exciting and promising, like a new frontier, but also at times confusing and frustrating. Don’t expect your Gemini client of choice to replace your web browser any time soon (or ever), but it’s still worth trying out, if for the novelty alone.
I was initially interested in the idea of Gemini, but when looking for a client, I happened upon this blog post by the creator of one of the clients about why they were abandoning it.
After a lot of thinking, I’ve realized there is one main reason I don’t keep coming back to Gemini: it offers no advantage over how I already use the Web.
In practice, the Web already has all the Gemini content I’m interested in from various people, and then of course everything else. Having everything in one place (whether my web browser or feed reader) makes for a much nicer experience.
Gemini is a reaction to bloated modern websites, but in fact I don’t actually visit that many gross websites like that. When I do, my ad blocker and paywall bypasser usually make them decent again. Otherwise, I spend the majority of my non-work Internet time on lightweight sites like my feed reader and Hacker News, and some time on sites that Gemini can’t emulate: YouTube, Reddit, Discord. The reality is that Gemini just wouldn’t actually improve this experience for me.
These are exactly the reservations I had about the concept, so to have someone so invested in it reach this exact conclusion and leave it made me decide to forego it. I think it’s a neat toy, and if it becomes relevant I’ll definitely take another look, but I think it’s a bit of putting the cart before the horse. I don’t want to use a protocol for the sake of using a protocol, I want it to serve a purpose and solve an actual problem I have.
I enjoyed browsing Gemini capsules using the Lagrange browser. Its look and feel is awesome and made me want to write smol websites again. I’m appalled by what modern websites have become. I miss making light but cool sites without an ounce of scripts in them.
Similar idea, but entirely new. I don’t think many people even here know what Gopher is.
I have seen Gemini before but never tried it. Maybe i will but i do have a few questions first:
- Is there a Gemini search engine?
- Is there support for Forms/server side code
- How big is it? Is there like just a few sites or a few hundred?
Is there a Gemini search engine?
I’ve found this one:
gemini://geminispace.info/
Needs a client to access, of course. Basic, but functional. I found a general-purpose forum not too different from reddit or lemmy through it (and they decided to call it a BBS, because the Eternal September hasn’t happened to Gemini yet):
gemini://bbs.geminispace.org/
Is there support for Forms/server side code
To the best of my understanding (and it’s highly limited, since I only just learned about this, so take everything with a grain of salt), what Gemini does is primarily limit what the client can do. No local scripts, highly limited markdown. The server side is not limited. You can write any complex code you want that works behind the scenes - but it still has to deliver static pages (called “capsules”) to the end user. This series of articles explains the basic underlying tech and uses the example of a simple server to illustrate how Gemini works:
And yes, forms are possible, even though there appears to be a somewhat widespread misconception that they are impossible. Please excuse the sketchy-looking IP address instead of a URL, this was the best resource I was able to find on this (and yes, I checked if this page is on Gemini - this appears to be not the case):
http://216.218.220.144/tutorials/sig-tutorials/misc/gemini-forms.gmi
Screenshot if you don’t want to click on the above link: https://i.imgur.com/s2mL3bM.png
Disclaimer: This is two years old and I have not tried to implement it myself. Looks entirely plausible though.
How big is it? Is there like just a few sites or a few hundred?
According to the search engine linked above, there are 2420 domains and 1,854,666 individual pages as of yesterday. This is about comparable to the World Wide Web at the same time 1994, a number that grew to 10,000 by the end of that year; I wouldn’t expect the same explosive growth from Gemini - the field has already been plowed, after all. Gemini Space is small, but not a ghost town.
And the star system and sign. Naming projects after very common words (or even worse, just letters or numbers) is really stupid as it makes searching for them or discussing them difficult and context sensitive and prone to fail.
I honestly don’t really use it, but I am excited about it in the future. :)
I installed it because of OSNews, my favorite tech news website. But the Gemini page seems to be down?
https://www.osnews.com/story/136770/osnews-launches-gemini-capsule/
Thank you so much for sharing this. I literally cannot stand the modern net. I’ve made it a point to curate personal websites. Found a bunch of cool ones on the lainchan web ring. Will check out Gemini
If you have any Lain/Lain-adjacent content feel free to post it over at !lain@sh.itjust.works
It’s cool and all, but this feels more like a toy than a tool. I can make dead simple web site in minutes with current stack. Nothing, but plain static pages.
Heck, if I looked for it, I bet I could set up markdown to HTML converter as this is already a widely used functionality throughout the web.
Couldn’t they just use No JavaScript and get the same approach? Or no JavaScript and no CSS?
I am 100% down for that approach. We even have options now so the entire web doesn’t have to be a fucking Table element.
Why do we need a whole new standard? That’s never a good approach
That would be doable, but in my opinion markdown is far easier to understand than HTML.
They were teaching HTML in Primary Schools and then again in Middle Schools. I have a hard time believing it’s easier.
It’s not even standard Markdown. Because again - why use a standard when I can make my own???
