HTTP is a bloated protocol.

Any visit to the website of a large company will tell you this.
Significant sizes of applications (often over 5 megabytes!), load times,
and the constant reminder to consent to cookies are all emblematic of
what our internet has become – a service hostile to its users for the
sake of profit. Practically every website you visit tracks your
information to collect both analytics and personal data, assembling a
profile of you that can be sold to advertisers, government agencies and
whoever else wants a cut of your data.

Gemini is a new protocol for browsing the internet founded by
solderpunk. it's designed only to serve data, and intends to foster a
friendlier internet – one in which arbitrary information can't be passed
from consumer to producer no matter what the motivation.

Gemini can be thought of as the HTTPS equivalent of Gopher: all traffic
is secured and encrypted.

[Why HTTP beat Gopher](https://ils.unc.edu/callee/gopherpaper.htm:).

Put this wiki on Gemini soon.

# Tools

[Gemini Diagnostics](https://github.com/michael-lazar/gemini-diagnostics)  
A 'torture test' for Gemini servers.

[Agate](https://github.com/mbrubeck/agate)  
A Gemini server in Rust.

[Gig](https://github.com/pitr/gig)  
A Gemini framework in Go.

[geminid](https://github.com/jovoro/geminid)  
gemini server in C

[Castor](https://sr.ht/~julienxx/Castor/)  
A GTK-based browser for Gopher and Gemini.

[Asuka](https://git.sr.ht/~julienxx/asuka)  
A Rust-based Gemini client.

- [A list of Gemini
  clients.](https://gemini.circumlunar.space/clients.html)
- [A list of all currently known Gemini
  software.](https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/gemini.circumlunar.space/software/)
- [Flounder, a Gemini/HTTPS host for simple
  sites.](https://flounder.online/)
- [mbrubeck/agate: Very simple server for the Gemini hypertext
  protocol](https://github.com/mbrubeck/agate)

# Sites

[The Tildeverse on
Gemini](https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/tildeverse.org/). [A Tilde
blog.](https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/commie.space/blog/) [A Gemini
search engine](https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/gus.guru/). Locate the
YouTube layer! [A neat Gemini
blog.](https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/acidic.website/) [Gemini best
practices](https://gemini.circumlunar.space/docs/best-practices.html)

# Why Gemini?

<https://gemini.circumlunar.space/docs/faq.txt> distribution of
arbitrary files; has special consideration for serving lightweight
format that allows linking between files! maintained by
solderpunk@sdf.org middle child: minimalist proof of concept designed
for simplicity, basic client creation and usability privacy! the
internet is not a safe place for plaintext. generality!

tls ? gopher can be written from scratch! but gopher still depends on ip
stack, dns resolver and filesystem. using tls for cryptography is
necessary. tls limits access to more modern machines, but it makes no
sense to sacrifice all privacy protections to accomodate them.