Deedum and Intentionality

2021-11-04

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For a while I've been using Ariane to peruse Geminispace on my smartphone, but recently I switched to Deedum. Deedum is decidedly more simplistic than Ariane: for example, it does not implement client certificates, and it offers little customization for text rendering.

At first I saw this lack of features as a flaw. If I wanted to access a resource that required my certificate, I needed to switch away from Deedum and go to a Gemini client on my desktop such as Kristall or Lagrange. As time has gone on, however, I think I'm beginning to like the reduced featureset.

I spend a lot less time using my smartphone than I did a few years ago, but I still use it far too much. I still feel a drive to check e-mails and message notifications whenever one arrives. I still want to see if my feeds got added to Antenna properly, or if any new signatures have appeared in my guestbook. I still constantly put on YouTube videos in the background while I work--videos on subjects I don't actually care about, but the suggestion popped up, so why not?

My tech usage feels more intentional when I'm using a full Linux computer, especially a desktop. It might be due to the fact that I have a dedicated physical keyboard to type on; it might be due to the fact that I have to stay in one place and take time away from other activities to do it; it might be that I have better control over the desktop experience and deliberately pare it down as much as I can.

Either way, I feel like it's a good thing for me to require a full desktop to explore the full potential of Geminispace. It might reduce my impetus to click on links at random, skim them for a few seconds, and return to where I started. If it requires more effort, I'll appreciate that effort more.

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[Last updated: 2021-11-05]