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When I was a teenager, I found and installed Apache. WordPress apparently had existed for a year or two, but I didn't hear about it for several years after. I m

When I was a teenager, I found and installed Apache. WordPress apparently had existed for a year or two, but I didn't hear about it for several years after. I memorized my IP address and would link people to that, and never bought a hostname or anything. If you just want to host a blog and maybe dabble in PHP, Apache works great. These days as an adult who programs professionally, my personal site is just a directory that I point nginx to with xhtml/xslt/css files that I hand edit + things like photos. I do have a domain name these days, but it's not like you need one. If you wanted something to be permanent to avoid link rot, you should want browsers to support ipfs so you could use that.

0xDEADFED5 3y ago
there's always dynamic dns, too
- bee_rider 3y ago
  Maybe someday ipv6 will become widespread and we can all have thousands of static IP addresses.
insanitybit 3y ago
Can we agree that "must be able to install apache" is not a good requirement for adding content to the web?
- ndriscoll 3y ago
  It's not a requirement; it's a $0 option. You could also pay someone a few dollars or befriend a local computer nerd. My memory is fading now, but I think ISPs used to offer web hosting and email as part of your Internet package, so they could always bring that back (I think they still give you email). Once upon a time, Windows came with a web server. You could imagine that sharing a folder on the web could be as easy as it is (was?) to share a folder through SMB (just open folder properties, click "Share", and give it a name). You asked what a free internet would look like without ads, but you need to keep in mind that ads have distorted the market that we have today. Even today, it's easy for a curious teenager to set up a web site for free on their computer, and it could be made even easier if the demand weren't being satisfied by people dumping onto markets.

0xDEADFED5 3y ago

there's always dynamic dns, too

bee_rider 3y ago
Maybe someday ipv6 will become widespread and we can all have thousands of static IP addresses.

insanitybit 3y ago

Can we agree that "must be able to install apache" is not a good requirement for adding content to the web?

ndriscoll 3y ago
It's not a requirement; it's a $0 option. You could also pay someone a few dollars or befriend a local computer nerd. My memory is fading now, but I think ISPs used to offer web hosting and email as part of your Internet package, so they could always bring that back (I think they still give you email). Once upon a time, Windows came with a web server. You could imagine that sharing a folder on the web could be as easy as it is (was?) to share a folder through SMB (just open folder properties, click "Share", and give it a name). You asked what a free internet would look like without ads, but you need to keep in mind that ads have distorted the market that we have today. Even today, it's easy for a curious teenager to set up a web site for free on their computer, and it could be made even easier if the demand weren't being satisfied by people dumping onto markets.