Nothing Happens by Chance
Posted: 21. Sep 2022, 14:04
I'm on a bit of a mission to carve out a corner of the Internet, where everything is simple, like the good old days.
I am in my mid 40's. I used to use IRC every day, 20 years ago - and I haven't used it again until now, to chat in the #Salix room.
I used to hand code my HTML, and then XHTML strict in W3C compliant code. At first I used SSI, frames and Iframes. Then I started to learn a bit of PHP and tableless, DIV/CSS design.
I remember(and used) Geocities. I uploaded my websites with FTP. I used animated gifs and midi music. It was all so much fun!
I remember when the Internet was exciting!
These days, I work full time doing SEO and digital marketing. I am well versed with all of Google's tools. I use Analytics, Search Console and Tag manager daily. I use all the SEO tools, ahrefs, etc. I have daily meeting about Facebook ads, Google Ads, PPC, ROI, CTA's.. and, well, to cut a long story short, I am SICK OF IT. What's the point of all this? All we're doing is slowly training Google's algorithms. We're already all but obsolete.
The Internet has turned into a digital ghetto with big tech oligarchs at the helm, treating everyone like cattle. When I clock off from work, I slide into a world where I have completely removed all mainstream and big-tech nonsense out of my life. This is a very big reason why I was quick to become a Salix/Slackware fan after learning about it only 3 days ago. I love the KISS philosophy.
I got into Linux because I got to the point that I hated Windows. XP was the last decent Windows OS. I De-Googled my phone, because I hate Google. I deleted Chrome, I hate Firefox now, but reluctantly use it - because there aren't any viable alternatives. I don't want to use Chromium derivatives - it's still Google as far as I am concerned.
I don't use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, or anything to do with Google, Microsoft or Apple.
A couple of weeks ago, I sat here blank faced, feeling resigned - wondering what I can do about all of the above. That's when the name "LibreLenny" popped into my mind.
I have decided to use my skills to:
- Carve out a corner of the Internet where everything is "old school".
- Hand code my own websites.
- Teach other people how to hand code and also what the importance of hand coding is - and the freedom it gives.
- I want to use IRC (which is why I am in #Salix every day)
- I want to teach people how to do marketing without Google, Facebook, YouTube or any other mainstream platform.
- I want to use nothing but non-mainstream platforms and help develop "share" mechanisms for these platforms.
There are a whole heap of freedom conscious and libre-minded platforms, websites and tools being built on the side. I'm figuring out ways to make use of those places. I want to get back to networking and show other people and businesses how to build and profit from online business without handing over buckets of money to the tech overlords. I want to help raise the old Internet back from the dead - and have it compete with this dead, pointless, tech-enhanced wasteland.
So my whole point here is, I think I found Salix at just the right time. I love the philosophy behind Slackware and I really think it meshed well with the direction I want to take online. Salix is the kind of distro that I will want to promote with my efforts.
I am in my mid 40's. I used to use IRC every day, 20 years ago - and I haven't used it again until now, to chat in the #Salix room.
I used to hand code my HTML, and then XHTML strict in W3C compliant code. At first I used SSI, frames and Iframes. Then I started to learn a bit of PHP and tableless, DIV/CSS design.
I remember(and used) Geocities. I uploaded my websites with FTP. I used animated gifs and midi music. It was all so much fun!
I remember when the Internet was exciting!
These days, I work full time doing SEO and digital marketing. I am well versed with all of Google's tools. I use Analytics, Search Console and Tag manager daily. I use all the SEO tools, ahrefs, etc. I have daily meeting about Facebook ads, Google Ads, PPC, ROI, CTA's.. and, well, to cut a long story short, I am SICK OF IT. What's the point of all this? All we're doing is slowly training Google's algorithms. We're already all but obsolete.
The Internet has turned into a digital ghetto with big tech oligarchs at the helm, treating everyone like cattle. When I clock off from work, I slide into a world where I have completely removed all mainstream and big-tech nonsense out of my life. This is a very big reason why I was quick to become a Salix/Slackware fan after learning about it only 3 days ago. I love the KISS philosophy.
I got into Linux because I got to the point that I hated Windows. XP was the last decent Windows OS. I De-Googled my phone, because I hate Google. I deleted Chrome, I hate Firefox now, but reluctantly use it - because there aren't any viable alternatives. I don't want to use Chromium derivatives - it's still Google as far as I am concerned.
I don't use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, or anything to do with Google, Microsoft or Apple.
A couple of weeks ago, I sat here blank faced, feeling resigned - wondering what I can do about all of the above. That's when the name "LibreLenny" popped into my mind.
I have decided to use my skills to:
- Carve out a corner of the Internet where everything is "old school".
- Hand code my own websites.
- Teach other people how to hand code and also what the importance of hand coding is - and the freedom it gives.
- I want to use IRC (which is why I am in #Salix every day)
- I want to teach people how to do marketing without Google, Facebook, YouTube or any other mainstream platform.
- I want to use nothing but non-mainstream platforms and help develop "share" mechanisms for these platforms.
There are a whole heap of freedom conscious and libre-minded platforms, websites and tools being built on the side. I'm figuring out ways to make use of those places. I want to get back to networking and show other people and businesses how to build and profit from online business without handing over buckets of money to the tech overlords. I want to help raise the old Internet back from the dead - and have it compete with this dead, pointless, tech-enhanced wasteland.
So my whole point here is, I think I found Salix at just the right time. I love the philosophy behind Slackware and I really think it meshed well with the direction I want to take online. Salix is the kind of distro that I will want to promote with my efforts.