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I’ve checked it out a few times. It suffers from the same issue that tor suffers from: half of the content is stuff that’s been booted off the internet (and for
by vGPU 3y ago
I’ve checked it out a few times. It suffers from the same issue that tor suffers from: half of the content is stuff that’s been booted off the internet (and for good reason), and the other half is the equivalent of “hello world” pages.
I keep hoping that one day we’ll have a true “alt-net” like mastodon and Lemmy are starting to form, but for the most part these services (freenet/tor/etc) are dead or full of unsavory or illegal material.
- type0 3y agoGemini (inspired by gopher) has been this alternative web for computer enthusiasts for a while now, not a lot of content but there's no JS and no ad networks, perfect for digital neoluddites!
- vGPU 3y ago> Gemini mailing list (down due to hardware failure) Seems like it needs a bit more work. It does seem to be interesting, but what’s the point of a network with no one on it?
- detaro 3y agoIf you think "has a mailing list" is a useful indicator for activity in 2023 open-source I have bad news for you.
- alwayslikethis 3y agoAmong other things, it's better than "join our disc*rd"
- vGPU 3y agoAgreed. At this point, if support or discussion for something is disc*rd only, I will look for something else.
- Endy 3y agoI've been trying to use Gemini via Lagrange Browser several times, but I've never found a site a or a use-case that sticks. What sites do you use on Gemini, and how is it best to find new content there?
- manuelmoreale 3y agoSame experience. Got interested because I love the simply web, love text only sites, love sites that use no JS and so on and Gemini looked promising and very interesting but after a bit I started wondering what’s the point. Having a simple site with no ads and no js is just a matter of intention. We can have those on the web if people really wanted to.
- wkat4242 3y agoYeah that's the reason I stay away from these things. They're searching for legit usecases and while these exist for sure, they mainly descend into a cesspool that nobody wants to associate themselves with, defeating the entire purpose. I don't have the answer but freenet isn't it.
- vGPU 3y agoThe last time I took a foray into tor a year ago or so the top 10 sites were all selling drugs and stolen credit cards. Couldn’t find a single legitimate or non illegal thing on it. Uninstalled it after 10 minutes of browsing almost identical sites claiming they were the only legitimate meth/hitman/heroin sites on tor. There are legitimate reasons to use tor, but onion sites don’t seem to be part of it, and when I’m evading censorship to watch Netflix or something I’d rather use a vpn.
- wkat4242 3y agoFreenet is a little bit different but the theme of most of the content is the same yes. Freenet is more like a depository of documents, so you can't really host a site on it, there is no 2-way communication. In many ways it's a predecessor to ipfs.
- sigg3 3y agoArguably it's a technological solution (or temporary workaround) to a political problem. In a liberal democracy, it makes sense that its use cases are mostly criminal, because the censorships it evades are mostly eroded by social reform. Those who are left are not hiding from censorship but from democracy. However, when democracy and liberty are set aside, by fascism or war, these tools really shine. (E.g. BBSes being run on network printers during the wars in Europe in the 90's.)