Blogger

I built a lightweight markdown-to-blog framework called Go Markdown Blogger. It's a no-js, minimalistic blogging setup that lets you host your own blog with little to no configuration.

Why opt for something as archaic as blogging in a time of AI and TikTok?

To answer that we have to backtrack to why one might blog at all. You see, I don't blog to convey a message or make myself heard. That's a bonus, don't get me wrong, and I'm glad that you've made your way here. But the truth is that I write to gather my thoughts. Sometimes you have to write something down to know what you think. That's true for me at least. Furthermore, writing is a tool I employ as part of most things I do. Truly profound and I realize that might come across a bit pretentious. But the truth is that writing is somewhat similar to reaching a checkpoint or clicking ln that quicksave. It is a reference. A commit hash.

Secondly, I like to play around with tech; try out new things, building stuff, and just consume tech in any way possible. Learning new things is awesome.

The best way to learn something in my opinion is to simply do it. Sometimes that requires you to create a compelling use case though. Simply following a generic tutorial is too shallow at the best of times. Instead, I often try to find a nail for my hammer, or in this case, why I'm required to create and host my own blog.

But why host a blog if you don't care about anyone reading it?

On that topic, this blog is actually both self hosted and built from scratch in Go. It has had some revisions, previously hosted with Hugo, and shortly I expect it to be rewritten in Zig. Hosting it is part of the fun. It gives me insight into pretty much all aspects of IT -- all the way from coding, building, hosting, to monitoring.

I'm somewhat tired of bloated Js frameworks (React/Angular/Vue/Svelte). Although I have to confess that I have a soft spot for Svelte. Regardless, a bundle of thousands of files is unforgivable. Instead I prefer the lightweight approach of a plain HTML template with a small css library for the aesthetics. So that's what you are reading. Blazingly fast too (although this is not Rust).

Another requirement I had when designing this was that all posts had to be markdown. No special proprietary platform or custom editor. Nothing complicated. As a result, this post is written on my phone, using Obsidian, and synced in realtime to my home cluster using Syncthing, where my blogging software is updated, also in realtime. Markdown is converted in to HTML and held in memory. Any changes to files or folders are automatically picked up and then presented here.

So you see, creating and hosting this blog together with a touch of creative writing is so much more than just sending a message. It is about learning and trying out new things, and to be somewhat pretentious again, it's about the journey, not the destination.