Why this website exists

I want a place where I can formulate my otherwise vague thoughts; content is under my control, feedback is possible and straightforward, and the tool does not violate people's interests. Keep content for tens of years.

What overall options are available?

Paper. It's a traditional way. Paper is super flexible: it can fit the text, drawings, and diagrams. Dead-easy to start. On the contrary site, there is no room for feedback or a discussion. My handwriting is pretty bad. Search for particular pieces of ideas and crossreference is quite hard. I would have to reinvent the catalog system in case the writings pile up.

Video.Straight forward in production: I don't need more than my laptop or a phone. Speaking is straight forward, and distribution is simple: there are enough channels out there where I can get feedback. Options for bright visualization are also open.

But video is slow to consume. Its format does not allow meaningful scanning of the content. The author's appearance affects people's judgment.

So online text it be. Now, which platform?

Twitter. Twitter puts you in unique constraints limiting the length of the message. It's not a twitter format to keep writing and rewriting the same entry over and over. Which I believe is right for refining. Every post/private message you create you don't own. It's up to twitter to edit your tweets delete them. Or block your account. You're giving away your work to the company. You participate in rat racing for recognition in the feed. You're not in control. Twitter has a vast audience and mechanics to promote your tweets. For many people, this overweights all minuses from above. Not for me.

Facebook. Pretty much the same as twitter, with the same minuses. Except for word limits. And easier creation of groups for cooperation.

Medium. Better than Twitter and Facebook. Medium is suitable for the text content from the design point of view. But the Medium company needs to feed its employees, and now it becomes more and more intrusive. It tries to lure first coming readers into becoming a member. It's correct for growing a company. Or for a writer who is building an audience to consume their content regularly. The same as Twitter and Facebook, Medium proposes mechanisms for expanding your audience. It looks like a trend: companies are shitty with their approaches but still useful because of the audience. It is a topic for another discussion.

Linkedin Just joking. But the audience...

WordPress. Has everything you might want from a blog. It has handy plugins, themes, available hosting. Millions of users polished the CMS. Tons of questions/answers are online. With WordPress, you're never alone.

But. Themes are bloated with unnecessary styles, scripts, and images. If you want something particular, you should try to find a plugin for that. And plugins break or cost money. To have something custom like a widget, you have to learn wp internals, touch lovely PHP and deal with MySQL. In other words, expressiveness suffers, and simplicity is lost.

What about Hugo and other static site generators? The closest to the ideal. Simple, open-source, text-based content, widely used. If I knew that I would not need more than just a blog, I would proceed with a static generator. But I want to keep open possibilities for rich and custom experiments.

So why not then build a thing myself?

Anyway, I know how to make web software. I know what I want as a result and potential. Plus, it's a no-brainer what to describe in the first post. A simple, future proof platform starts as a regular blog but can grow into anything. Self-hosted and privacy-oriented. I can do it. And I did it.