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Neatnik@neatnik@social.lol (2026-08-21 14:51:57)
RE: https://indieweb.social/@olly/117128684877670880
I think Olly kinda missed the point of Hardcore Indieweb. It's a piece reminding everyone that making your own web pages yourself and uploading them to a web server is still an option in 2026, and it's the *only* option that eliminates your reliance on others. The only actual "indie" option. It may not be the best option for everyone, but it's still an option!
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---Replies---
Neatnik@neatnik@social.lol (2026-08-21 14:53:19)
This part really cracked me up:
> "If you choose the hardcore DIY approach, you're subjecting yourself to a lot of maintenance, unexplained errors and headaches that suck up a lot of time, or will require you to pay for an LLM to fix it when you're stumped."
We're not operating a nuclear reactor here. Making a web page and sticking it on a web server is one of the most simple and maintenance-free things you can do on the web.
And if anyone ever runs into problems writing HTML, please feel free to just ask me for help. Any time. No LLMs needed. 👍
Michael Kohl 🇦🇹🇹🇭@citizen428@chaos.social (2026-08-21 15:17:56)
@neatnik I find his whole argument quite anti-human. Portraying HTML and CSS as something complex when so many of us learned it as kids on MySpace or similar sites in the past. And the idea that you’d need an LLM to fix things. Like humans aren’t capable of reading an error message and figuring it out. Trust in other people’s ability to work things out and let them experience the joy of creating something.
Harry@raeubervater@social.lol (2026-08-21 16:12:29)
@neatnik I think it’s a matter of how much of your own resources you’re willing to invest. I kinda get both your point and Olly’s. I already know enough to build and maintain a simple website, basically exactly what you described in your post. And I would recommend that to anyone running their own blog.
And I think you have a point when it comes to what “indie” actually means. If we’re talking about independence, building and hosting your own site yourself is probably the most indie way to do it.
Is this for everyone? Nope. And that’s okay. That’s exactly why we have so much variety. It’s okay to build your website yourself from the ground up, but it’s also okay to use services like Pika, Pagecord or Bear.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I prefer platforms like these over self-hosting and coding everything myself.
Originally I wanted to use this example:
“I could easily build my own Cisco network with enterprise Wi-Fi APs at home. But I don’t, because it’s too much hassle for private use. I also want my infrastructure at home to be as simple as possible, so my family can still get along with it when I’m not around.”
But now I realize that this comparison doesn’t quite work, because I’d be able to equip my house with Cisco enterprise products exactly the way I want without much trouble. That’s what I work with every day. That’s not the case with my HTML skills.
Damn… where was I going with this? 🤔
Okay. Would I be able to build a personal website exactly the way my slightly broken perfectionist brain wants it to be? Probably. With enough time, studying and coffee, very likely.
Am I ready to invest that time at this point in my life? No!
I really like how IndieWeb.org puts it:
“We are a community of independent and personal websites based on the principles of: owning your domain and using it as your primary online identity, publishing on your own site first (optionally elsewhere), and owning your content.”
I think there’s quite a bit of room within that d
thierry@tnjh@mastodon.social (2026-08-21 17:13:29)
@neatnik For a programmer, he seems oddly dismissive of the joy of learning a new skill and figuring out how something works.
Olly@olly@indieweb.social (2026-08-21 17:25:10)
@neatnik I haven't missed the point. I'm merely suggesting it's more complicated than you say. Maybe we have different ideas. Perhaps you could outline the steps required to maintain a blog using raw HTML and CSS hosted somewhere on the internet and we'll discuss over a practical example?
Also, "uploading them to a web server" literally introduced a dependency on others! 😅🤷♂️