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I used m4 some time in the 90s to generate my site, before I'd heard the term "static site generator". Then I switched to PHP, and then Python, and now back to
by thomashabets2 3y ago
I used m4 some time in the 90s to generate my site, before I'd heard the term "static site generator".
Then I switched to PHP, and then Python, and now back to static using Jekyll.
It's just so much better, when possible to use. Aside from SSL certs everything can be fixed on your timeline. Compare PHP breaking something on upgrade, where you need to fix it immediately, and the site is down until you're done.
Static site, even if the generator breaks, fails... well... static. If you don't need to post anything new, then you don't have a problem.
And if the server explodes, you can just ask a friend to host some files. Not "hey, you run PHP version X with settings Y, right? And postgres?".
(Some friends maybe even say "no, I don't want PHP on my machine")
- PhilipRoman 3y agoI still use m4 for such tasks. I feel like it's only 1 step up from having a sed "s/VERSION/1.2.3/g" in terms of complexity and as long as everything can be done with external shell commands, you can avoid installing python, etc.