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diff --git a/posts/01-firstpost.org b/posts/01-firstpost.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6b3c13 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/01-firstpost.org @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ +#+TITLE: A New Start + +#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE +All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - JRR Tolkien +#+END_EXAMPLE + +I used to have an old site, which I hosted at http://nistur.com. I had +an ancient version of Wordpress which I pretty much abandoned. I kept +the page around because I had my CV linking to various parts of it. I +wanted to keep the domain name, because it was a handle I had used +since I was a teenager, but the site itself didn't bother me. When the +site just totally gave up, I had to decide what to do. Either I could +try to put it onto life support for the purpose of just expanding on +the information in my [[file:pages/cv.org][CV]] or, I could create something new. + +I did procrastinate, trying to decide what was best to spend my time +working on. I could install a brand new version of Wordpress on a +site, I could write something from scratch, I could run a Wix site, I +could use one of a million different solutions. + +I am not a web developer. I have done a small amount of web +development, enough to know that while I can write some backend tech +for services I need in my projects, I do not want to be writing +sites. So this ruled out my normal goto, write it from scratch. Using +something like Wix wasn't "on brand" with my CV though, which is +esoteric and awkward, solving a problem in an interesting way. + +I also didn't know where I wanted to host it. I had been using a big +CPanel based host system for the past 10+ years, but I think I'm +probably overpaying, and I definitely don't feel comfortable in that +system, it's both too complicated for what I actually use, but at the +same time feels too simplified for me to get stuck in and use it. + +Then I had an idea. I could, temporarily at least, host a page on +AWS. Their t2.micro instances are free for 12 months. At the end of +that time, I could decide what to do. If I was using such a minimal +instance, I probably didn't want a big web server, database system +etc. I don't need those. I have a small website with only pretty +minimal data on it. I could create a static site, and host it using +[[https://picolisp.com][Picolisp]] as a web server. This would allow me a pretty slimline system +that I could expand to do more dynamic content if I wanted to in +future, but also the static site would mean that if I changed where I +wanted to host it in future, I would just copy the data files onto the +new host. Simple. + +What static site generator then? Most people would probably go for +something that uses Markdown, and I did seriously consider that. The +solutions are very good, and very well supported. I, however, had been +using Emacs [[https://orgmode.org][Org-Mode]] for almost 15 years for many things, including +authoring documents. So I found [[https://emacs.love/weblorg][Weblorg]] which seemed to tick all my +boxes. /I could have just used org-html-export-to-html but I wanted +something a bit slicker really./ + +So, there we have my current setup, I have a repository, which I will +shortly push to github, once I have a few more pages fleshed out, and +maybe some minor customisation done on the site, it exports with +Weblorg, and gets hosted on AWS with a picolisp webserver. Could I +have had a site up and running much quicker than this? Of course. I +chose this path though, because it was /relatively/ quick, compared to +trying to write myself a site from scratch, but at the same time, +maintains some of the interest that keeps me invested in projects. I +feel, for me, this is a better solution than an easier one. + +I also decided to not use nistur.com as a domain for my CV related +stuff. Instead I'm going to be keeping my 'professional' things on +here, [[http://philippgeyer.co.uk][PhilippGeyer.co.uk]]. I will at some point also revive nistur.com +and use that for less related personal projects. I am not trying to +distance myself from that by switching domains, but rather just trying +to keep things a bit more organised. I also won't make this +particularly tight laced. As should be obvious by this post, I find +more informal writing a lot easier, so I'll keep this laid back +approach. + +That's probably it for now. |