Gemini n00b Q

Say someone is new to Gemini, what would you suggest them to do? what to read? where to write? should they sync their WordPress blog to Gemini?

Any and all tips are appreciated.

🚀 antranigv

2023-08-08 · 9 months ago · 👍 jsreed5, aRubes · 👋 1

8 Comments ↓

🎵 xavi · 2023-08-08 at 22:00:

As opposed to the modern web, Gemini is thought as a platform for publishing, not consumption, so creating a capsule (slang for a Gemini site) and writing their own content is highly encouraged for first-time users. Gemini is a lightweight protocol, so servers can run even on low-power commodity hardware, such as single-board computers or older laptops.

🚀 stack · 2023-08-08 at 22:32:

— warmedal.se/~antenna/

🍀 gritty · 2023-08-08 at 23:50:

Gemini FAQ is a good place to start.

I play a lot of spellbinding, water my astrobotany plant, check the aggregators, expand my capsule, and look for new content not listed anywhere. part of Gemini is the finding.

— Gemini FAQ

🚀 stack · 2023-08-09 at 00:05:

— skyjake.fi/~Cosmos/

🕹️ skyjake [...] · 2023-08-09 at 05:44:

> should they sync their WordPress blog to Gemini?

IMHO don't do this. I would say you are "holding it wrong" if your idea of using Gemini is to republish things initially created for the web. Sure, having access to more content is nice, but there are automated tools for this such as the Ducking Proxy and NewsWaffle. Instead, one should approach Gemini on its own terms.

One of the best things about Gemini is that you can (and should initially) write your capsule and gemlog by hand, assuming you have a place to host the files.

By doing that, you get a feel of what Gemini actually is, without the details being abstracted away and hidden behind some complex machinery. Perhaps then you can start to really appreciate the value of Gemini and why it makes the tradeoffs that it does.

🦥 aRubes · 2023-08-09 at 08:46:

— Collaborative Directory of Geminiy resources

— About Gemini in SmallWeb.Space

🚀 stack · 2023-08-09 at 12:21:

Maybe use a place like flounder, midnight pub, or station to get started with a gemlog. If you are up to it, a tilde account to ssh into and just edit files with vim... I wrote a little program to generate index pages, but it's easy enough to do by hand in the beginning.

🚀 jsreed5 · 2023-08-10 at 01:02:

I don't think there's a general answer to a question like this. What's more important to me is why the person I'm talking to might be interested in Gemini in the first place. What do they dislike about the modern Web? Do they simply want to browse Gemini, or do they want to post writings and have a presence? How comfortable would they be with concepts such as using a file for user authentication (client certificates) instead of a password? It's important to understand a prospective Geminaut's desires before one can determine if Gemini will satisfy them--and different people get satisfaction out of Gemini in very different ways.