For many of us of a particular vintage, the internet blossomed in the ’90s with the invention of the Web and just a few years of development. Back then, we had the convenience of expression on the WWW and the backup of mature services such as IRC for all that other stuff we used to get up to. Some of us still hang out there. Then something happened. Something terrible. Big-commerce took over, and it ballooned into this enormously complex mess with people tracking you every few seconds and constantly trying to bombard you with marketing messages. Enough now. Many people have had enough and have come together to create the Tildeverse, a minimalist community-driven internet experience.
Tilde, literally ‘ ~ ‘, is your home on the internet. You can work on your ideas on a shared server or run your own. Tilde emphasises the retro aesthetic by being minimal and text-orientated. Those unfamiliar with a command line may start getting uncomfortable, but don’t worry—help is at hand. The number of activities is too many to list, but there are a few projects, such as a collaborative Sci-Fi story, a radio station, and even a private VoIP server. Gamers are catered for as long as you like Minecraft, but we think that’s how it should go.
The Tildeverse also supports Gopher and the new Gemini protocol, giving some people a few more options with which to tinker. The usual method to gain access is to first sign up on a server, then SSH into it; you’re then taken to your little piece of the internet, ready to start your minimalist journey into the Tildeverse.
A couple of videos after the break go into much more detail about the whys and hows of the Tildeverse and are worth a chunk of your time.
We’ve talked about the ‘small web’ before. Here’s our guide to Gemini.
Thanks to [Andrew] for the tip!
And they choose to publicise their efforts with youtube videos??!
Yeah? Why not?
because peertube exists or because video are actually, just files.
using the platform (youtube) which destroyed the actual internet and part of the ice floe is indeed, ridiculous.
It might be ironic but ridiculous I’d say not. If you want to win people over, you go to them. Close yourself in your ivory tower and no one will know about you.
LOL, kind of an oxymoron I’d say, but you do have to get the word out some how :) .
Have to check it out.
The first vid was one of a series originally on Peertube (https://tilvids.com/w/sLjfmWaDL2DxAWSxKaJKJp) and the second one is hosted by CCC (https://ino.is/small-internet-talk) and was from MCH2022 in the Netherlands. Youtube expands the audience reach in an effort to attract those who might find a home in the tildeverse but aren’t already involved in the fediverse.
I’m sure the nobility in late 1700’s france found a sense of outrage at the peasantry using the pitchforks that the nobility ‘gave’ them as tools to dismantle the aristocracy.
Using Youtube is a pragmatic choice to reach out beyond the bubble of those who have already self selected away from the mainstream.
yea excellent point. Theres no ‘saving’ being done here. Its just people re-inventing the wheel pretending to be creating a whole new travel infrastructure then carting it down the highway in the newest semi-truck with advertising pasted on the sides.
So it’s lush a MUSH but without the humor?
I assume their videos are on Peertube and similar services too. Forgive me being too lazy to look that up right now.
Yes, Tomasino also has a PeerTube channel:
https://tilvids.com/c/tomasino_channel
I’m sorry but I think the decision to improve upon gopher isn’t very wise, and a waste of effort in my opinion.
I think using HTML+CSS+basic JavaScript (plus maybe a hard limit for total RAM resources that the page takes?) for a small web application should suffice, along with SSL/TLS for encryption.
The “big-web” problem has never been about technology, but about vested interests and parties who have no skin in the culture (aka advertisers)
Nevertheless I wish them all the very best. I myself am a user of many anonymous imageboards, which are similar in spirit to what tildeverse is attempting to accomplish.
A good test is trowing your site against old browsers like Netscape 4.5 or Arachne, if they are at least usable under them then you are on the right path.
Never say never! Maybe you refer to it by a different name, however ever since Netscape 1.1 the browser itself fell under vested interests – perhaps with more skin in the culture than now – but very much vested interests that were against the cultures general interests.
I have no objection over HTML but when it comes to expansions I suspect you’ll find much disagreement where the line should be drawn.
There is absolutely no reason to involve SSL / TLS. The only reason those are ‘needed’ on the regular web is because people insist on putting valuable or what they consider to be private information onto public channels where all it takes is interception to take that privacy away. Put public data on those pathways and interception becomes the intended operation not one that needs encryption.
this uses TLS?
I have been on the tildeverse for 4 years, I think. Really nice place and great people. Made so many friends from all over the world. Back in lock down days we would hold whole online birthday parties for people. We had trivia nights. Radio programs.
The guy maintaining curl (probably the most-used networking code ever) has some pretty pointed criticism regarding gemini:
https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2023/05/28/the-gemini-protocol-seen-by-this-http-client-person/
Eey, I realize Gemini isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but the expansive suite of potential services on tap in the tilde and pubnix communities is genuinely terrifying.
Glad i gave you guys a tip that panned out.
Makes me think about the retro hack a day blog, is it still up?
Also, it wasn’t up to date, would it be hard to make a script that would update it, say, once a day?
At least to watch the articles, maybe not the comments if it’s too hard to do.
Why encryption on a protocol that has no form submission or logins?
Afraid the other people on the same WiFi will know what publicly available stuff you are reading?