Blog Question Challenge 2025
Andreas has tagged me about the Blogging Challenge. I accepted and here is my little contribution.
Why did you start blogging in the first place?
I started my first personal website around 1997, just hand written HTML. With a lot of Gif images, like most websites at that time. The hosting was provided by the dial-up internet provider. You saved your HTML files in the "public_html" sub directory in your home directory on their server. Like the current "tilde-verse" sites, the website was available as http://provider-url/~username.
It was fun to do, and a way to reach out. It provided a platform to explain how to do things on Linux. I like to show that you can really use open source software for everything. This is also the main motivation to write articles for the Dutch Linux Magazine.
I have always had some kind of website since then, and when I started to be self employed it became a website for my business.
I wanted to write more about open source software and explain how to do things, and created a second website. My professional website had www.matto.nl as URL, and I added a new sub domain, box.matto.nl.
When "always-on" internet became available, first over the coax from the cable-TV, later over ADSL, I started to a self host the site.
In 2005 I bought an ACME systems Foxboard, a small Linux single board computer, with an Axis ETRAX CPU running a 100 HHz and 32 Mb RAM, and used to run a web server with my site on it. It functioned for many years, and after it died I have run my website on different single board computers, the longest period on a lovely BeagleBone Black board running the OpenBSD httpd.
What platform are you using to manage your blog, and why do you use it?
I use a home made static site generator, written in Common Lisp. The content is maintained in files stored in a Vimwiki diary directory. although I stopped using Vimwiki a long time ago. Each file becomes a web page.
I use it because it allows to write in plain text and it gives me full control. A static site generator is a great subject if you like to tinker. There is always something to improve and you can always find an excuse to start building a new one.
The Common Lisp is compiled using SBCL which generates a blazing fast system. The entire website, including the tag-files, and the RSS feed, the most-recents page, and so on, is build in about two and a half seconds.
While building the generator, the plan was to first create something that would generate the entire site, use that as a basis, and add code to make it incremental --building only new or changed pages. I discovered it actually takes a very short time to generate the entire site and dropped the plan for the second part.
If I change something, even just something small like adding a comma, I just rebuild the whole thing. After that I upload the changes, or just the whole site.
Have you blogged on other platforms before?
First, I like to mention that Gopher has become the main protocol for my writings. I publish much more content on gopher://box.matto.nl than on this website.
The static site generator mentioned above is the second generator I build in Common Lisp. The first one was a project to help me to learn code in Common Lisp and the code wasn't pretty :)
Before that, I have used for a short period a static site generator written in Elisp. Again a project to learn, this time to code in Elisp.
Before the Elisp generator, I used a big shell script, that made extensive use of a few awk scripts. Over time, this shell script had grown organically.
Before the shell script, I have build my site for several years with Ikiwiki, but in the end it became to slow.
Before Ikiwiki, I have used other shell scripts. Once I had phase in which I loved to build websites using M4 and shell script, including my own.
Over the years the site got several redesigns, and during one of those I removed a lot of outdated stuff.
How do you write your posts?
I prefer to write in plain text. This helps to keep focus on the content, it is durable format, and can be created with any editor. Plain text is great for the use of revision management tools, like RCS or Git, to provide a superior undo on steroids.
I use Emacs to write the blog posts, the files are in the Vimwiki diary directory and have a file name in the format YYYY-MM-DD.md. The posts are written in Markdown format. The content for the links page is maintained in a GNU Recutils database. A small shell script generates a Markdown file and the OPML file.
The directory with the Markdown files and the compiled generator live in a FreeBSD jail on a small FreeBSD server in the home network. This way I doesn't matter which laptop I am using, I just ssh into the jail. I like to do this on my ThinkPad X201 because of its excellent keyboard, and sometimes write using the Acer Aspire One 522, I like its small form factor and low weight.
Photo of the Acer Aspire One next to a ThinkPad X201
When do you feel most inspired to write?
My blog contains mostly explanations on how to do things. Whenever I discover a --for me -- new way to do things, or solve a problem, I like to write about it.
Writing about a subject is the litmus test, it's a great method to clarify the holes in your understanding.
Do you normally publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit?
When a new post is finished, and the Markdown file is saved, I immediately run the site generator, upload the file with the article, and see how the web page looks and if there are any points to improve. If so, I edit the Markdown file, run the generator, upload the HTML file and check it again. Sometimes a few more iterations are needed.
After that I upload the entire site, to get the proper links on the most recent page, the right tag files, and so on, and to update the RSS feed.
What’s your favorite post on your blog?
I don't really have a favorite post, to be honest, but if I must pick one, it will be the page about my participation in the first Old Computer Challange.
There are several reasons for this.
- The Acer Aspire One ZG5 had been my daily driver for several years and I loved this netbook. It is a shame that netbooks are no longer produced.
- The community around the first Old Computer Challenge was wonderful and participating created cherished memories.
- The Old Computer Challenge community was the first IRC community I engaged in after many years, and I am very thankful to be part of it. There are many great people in this community.
- The Old Computer Challenge reconfirmed that I don't need much power or a high resolution display, and this eventually helped my in my decision to buy and old ThinkPad X201.
Any future plans for the blog?
Several times thought has crossed my mind to move the format for the content from Markdown to org. Maybe I will do that one day.
Having two platforms, gopher and HTML, creates issues like what to post where, and to double posts on both or not. I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Who will participate next?
I would like to nominate ClaudioM, Gijs, and Paolo Amoroso and hope they will accept the challenge.
I'm curious and looking forward to their writings!
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