From: Lucian Mogosanu Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 07:23:43 +0000 (+0300) Subject: posts: write 002 X-Git-Tag: v0.1~3 X-Git-Url: https://git.mogosanu.ro/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=36d1a45d7b7f6c45b2e5ed7894a5268b96c1be6b;p=thetarpit.git posts: write 002 --- diff --git a/posts/002-technicalities.markdown b/posts/002-technicalities.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a38b02e --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/002-technicalities.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,122 @@ +--- +postid: 002 +title: The Tar Pit: technicalities +author: Lucian Mogoșanu +date: July 27, 2013 +tags: asphalt, tech +--- + +

+*[So I’ve erased myself, replaced my mind, it's a clean slate][1]*

+ +I would argue that the tools used to create some arbitrary kind of art, or +craft, are completely irrelevant. The argument is supported by past pieces of +art, some of which were made in very rudimentary conditions, a fact which at +the same time doesn't make them any less "artistic" than newer, more +"sophisticated" creations. Some would even argue the opposite: that earlier art +has more personality, since it involved more sweat and blood. This is of +course bullshit, as there are many handcrafted works that look dull[^1] and +some chaotic geometric shapes that can be described purely mathematically[^2]. + +That is, tools are of little importance to the consumer, while they can make a +big difference for the producer. Some hundreds of years ago people were writing +using quill pens and parchments, while more recently Douglas Adams wrote on an +Apple computer. While this makes no difference whatsoever to the reader, they +helped the writers be more or less productive, given that quills and parchments +are easier to use than clay tablets, although significantly slower than your +modern keyboard. Sure, it's not that pencils are in any way "inferior" to +computers; they're just different tools serving different purposes. + + + +## The eternal issues of Content Management Systems + +About nine months ago or so I felt that Wordpress was no longer the right tool +for me. I had already known that it had its problems and I had used various +palliatives that kind of worked, only not in the way I wanted. + +One of the smaller problems of Wordpress was its inner workings, that require a +fully working, fully configured LAMP[^3] environment. There's not much to say +about that, this kind of setup is now a de facto standard on the web. However, +the really small stuff killed me. For example, pingbacks mysteriously stopped +working without me even noticing once I changed the router in my internal +network. The new router didn't support NAT loopback, while Wordpress was +continuously making requests to the public IP address, making it impossible to +reach itself[^4]. I solved the problem later by doing some DNS voodoo, but the +fact remains that I was desperate about trying to fix a system that doesn't +work reliably anyway[^5]. + +Then there was that issue of spam. For a blog that got a comment per month or +less, the old blog™ received a shitload of spam, so much that the (non-premium) +Akismet queue couldn't handle it. This was frustrating me, since I was now +spending more time doing moderation and checking for false positives than +doing, you know, the important stuff. + +Finally, all these problems led to performance issues. After attempting some +holistic server-side optimizations, I had to get a new server to ramp up +loading time. I also tried some stricter security measures such as IP banning, +but again, this incurred a lot of overhead from my side, and mind you, I can't +say I find the idea of being a sysadmin too attractive. + +## The zen of static site generation + +About nine months ago, I realized that a static blog would solve all these +problems and pose some others. On one hand, a static site loads fast, has a +simpler design, which makes it a lot easier to configure and customize, and it +eliminates comment spam by design. Since I'm into Haskell, Hakyll seemed like a +good idea, even though there are other pretty good alternatives out there. + +On the other hand comments, I admit, are kind of a big issue. For a while, I +looked into third party commenting systems, or writing my own, or even using +the one from Wordpress, but I realized this would bring back the spam +nightmares I had previously had with it. I also thought about proprietary +alternatives such as Disqus, but Disqus is a service with terms that I don't +necessarily agree with. So no, I wouldn't have them owning the comments of my +readers. + +Therefore, I have given up comments altogether. Once the blog has a contact +page, you'll have the option of commenting on my stuff by sending me an e-mail +or a message on whatever social network I'm on. Moreover, feel free to link my +posts to Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and whatever social network you're on, and +drop me an e-mail if you feel like I should give my input. Other than that, I +don't really feel like turning back to comment moderation, I think that I +should focus on writing and not much more. + +## Die Sprache + +I'll end this post by mentioning that I deliberately chose English as the main +language[^6] for The Tar Pit. I'm not a native, nor a particularly good English +speaker or writer, hence this gives me the occasion to improve my skills and +evolve, which was pretty much [my motivation][3] from the beginning. + +I am also hoping that, being written in one of the most widely spoken languages +on the web, the blog's more obscure content will reach a bigger audience. I'm +well aware that this could change. Maybe Simplified Chinese will become the new +hot trend in five years from now, which means I'll just have to learn it and +use it in writing. + +*As for why The Tar Pit, stay tuned, you'll find out soon. Really soon.* + +[^1]: There are those that call themselves "slow artists", who find great +pleasure in spending tens of hours in making intricate, beautiful patterns, +which can nowadays be reproduced by a computer in a matter of seconds. Both are +awfully symmetric, both lack personality, thus rendering the whole "automatic +versus handmade" debate useless. + +[^2]: Fractals, dynamical systems in general. + +[^3]: Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP + +[^4]: I documented this on [my previous blog][2] (in Romanian). + +[^5]: It's not that pingbacks are not reliable by themselves. It's that the +XML-RPC protocol, or rather its implementation, is crappy. I agree that in +theory pingbacks are a really cool idea meant to fire up discussions, but in +practice they never seem to work quite right. + +[^6]: Maybe not the only one. I don't know, I guess we'll cross that bridge +when we come to it. + +[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdAeqtw3KeQ +[2]: http://lucian.mogosanu.ro/bricks/de-ce-nat-ul-e-o-idee-proasta "de ce nat-ul e o idee proastă" +[3]: /posts/001-introduction.html "The Tar Pit: an introduction"