4 ms·

er what's wrong with just putting up static webpages? Very little sysop work required.

ben_w 3y ago
My (new) blog is a static webpage. No comment. I wasn't getting many comments on the Wordpress one neither, so that's actually fine for me, but if I was getting many, it would matter a lot.
joseferben 3y ago
recent google algo changes seem to penalize domains with a low domain rank even more. if you want to be found through search it makes sense to use an established platform.
valvar 3y ago
It's hard for SaaS platforms to monetize, that's what's wrong with it
vertis 3y ago
Yes, let's make everyone learn how to deploy static webpages just so they can write a blog or newsletter (◔_◔) (and I say this as someone that has used Jekyll for over a decade)
- squigz 3y ago
  You know, I'm not sure why this is always put up as some kind of unreasonable expectation. But society has various expectations about skills needed to survive and thrive in the modern day - while not entirely universal, driving might be one of those expectations. Would it be crazy to expect one of those skills to be basic computer & sysadmin knowledge? With that, I would expect most people could host a site on, say, GH pages or similar
  - vertis 3y ago
    It IS an unreasonable expectation. There are so many reasons it's unrealistic, from the fact that it's a niche skill, to the friction that it creates before one can just write or interact with others. Comparing it to driving is not a good example; a much better one might be everyone learning to fly. Because you know then we wouldn't have to take commercial flights. My partner deals with a large set of people that can't manage to print a PDF, let alone deploy a static site to GitHub pages. Lack of technical ability does not imply lack of intelligence. Most of the people she serves could learn to patternmake and design their own garments, but instead they buy her sewing patterns and download them. Because at the end of the day, they want to sew a garment and enjoy it, not jump through the learning required to design the patterns from scratch (though a small subset might eventually do that). I grant you that an increasing set of children are getting a technical education, but they're only one part of a very large global population.
    - squigz 3y ago
      It wasn't all that long ago that using computers at all was a niche skill, and yet...
      - vertis 3y ago
        The argument that deploying a static site will become as widespread as using computers is flawed. It wasn't that long ago that working a field was a core skill, but that's no longer the case. We can find countless examples of skills that were once essential but have now become niche or obsolete. Deploying your own site was made niche by the very tools you're railing against. Deploying a static site is likely to remain a niche skill, relevant only to a specific subset who already use similar skills elsewhere. With the rapid advancement of AI, it's likely that even those core dev/op skills will become less relevant (surplanted by others).
        squigz 3y ago
        I don't recall "railing" against any particular tools
afavour 3y ago
It’s difficult to do. Not difficult for you or I, but Substack, Medium etc cater to a much wider audience than tech nerds and they have zero capacity for sysop work.

My (new) blog is a static webpage. No comment. I wasn't getting many comments on the Wordpress one neither, so that's actually fine for me, but if I was getting many, it would matter a lot.

joseferben 3y ago

recent google algo changes seem to penalize domains with a low domain rank even more. if you want to be found through search it makes sense to use an established platform.

valvar 3y ago

It's hard for SaaS platforms to monetize, that's what's wrong with it

vertis 3y ago

Yes, let's make everyone learn how to deploy static webpages just so they can write a blog or newsletter (◔_◔) (and I say this as someone that has used Jekyll for over a decade)

squigz 3y ago
You know, I'm not sure why this is always put up as some kind of unreasonable expectation. But society has various expectations about skills needed to survive and thrive in the modern day - while not entirely universal, driving might be one of those expectations. Would it be crazy to expect one of those skills to be basic computer & sysadmin knowledge? With that, I would expect most people could host a site on, say, GH pages or similar
- vertis 3y ago
  It IS an unreasonable expectation. There are so many reasons it's unrealistic, from the fact that it's a niche skill, to the friction that it creates before one can just write or interact with others. Comparing it to driving is not a good example; a much better one might be everyone learning to fly. Because you know then we wouldn't have to take commercial flights. My partner deals with a large set of people that can't manage to print a PDF, let alone deploy a static site to GitHub pages. Lack of technical ability does not imply lack of intelligence. Most of the people she serves could learn to patternmake and design their own garments, but instead they buy her sewing patterns and download them. Because at the end of the day, they want to sew a garment and enjoy it, not jump through the learning required to design the patterns from scratch (though a small subset might eventually do that). I grant you that an increasing set of children are getting a technical education, but they're only one part of a very large global population.
  - squigz 3y ago
    It wasn't all that long ago that using computers at all was a niche skill, and yet...
    - vertis 3y ago
      The argument that deploying a static site will become as widespread as using computers is flawed. It wasn't that long ago that working a field was a core skill, but that's no longer the case. We can find countless examples of skills that were once essential but have now become niche or obsolete. Deploying your own site was made niche by the very tools you're railing against. Deploying a static site is likely to remain a niche skill, relevant only to a specific subset who already use similar skills elsewhere. With the rapid advancement of AI, it's likely that even those core dev/op skills will become less relevant (surplanted by others).
      - squigz 3y ago
        I don't recall "railing" against any particular tools

afavour 3y ago

It’s difficult to do. Not difficult for you or I, but Substack, Medium etc cater to a much wider audience than tech nerds and they have zero capacity for sysop work.