[tech] [spec] On extending gemini

[Sean Conner]

It was thus said that the Great Michael Lazar once stated:
> I feel like I should say something as the author of the controversial
> gemini favicon RFC [0].

  I've been pondering a response to this all day, and I wasn't sure even if
I should respond.  Thanks for breaking the ground here.

> This comment was posted earlier today by ddevault on the Amfora issue
> tracker [1].
> 
> > Every gemini page shall complete in a single gemini request. Please
> > do not send extra requests to my server, opt-in or not. Gemini is
> > not the web and adding flashy features and new standards is
> > decidedly un-gemini.
> >
> > I might update my server software to automatically blackhole any IP
> > address which tries to request a favicon file.
> 
> And continuing in the following comment (after makeworld expressed
> some reservations).
> 
> > This is the only means we have of self regulation. I'll ask nicely
> > first but ultimately I'll do what I have to in order to preserve
> > Gemini's simplicity and utility as a small internet protocol.
> > Do not. Extend. Gemini.
> > Period.
> 
> This is disgraceful, shameless intimidation.

  But it fits with his character.  When I asked for the IP address of his
web proxy to block it (because of his refusal to support robots.txt), he 
resorted to name calling:
  
        https://mailing-list-archive.gemi.dev/www/2020/003509.html

(Note for non-US readers:  The term "dick" is a slang term for "penis" and
is used as a slur against other males.  It is *also* true that "Dick" is a
legitimate name (a short form for "Richard"), but as I'm not named
"Richard", nor is Drew, it was obviously a slur against me.)

  It does come across as Drew saying "blocking is for me, not for thee.")

> Note the deliberate timing of when this issue was raised.
> gemini://srht.site was announced just a few hours earlier and the
> obvious expectation is that ddevault will soon host a significant
> portion of gemini capsules in the wild. He now has the power he
> needs to make demands of other gemini developers.
> 
> The threat isn?t to blackhole all requests to /favicon.txt, which
> might have been considered reasonable. No, the thread is to blackhole
> the IP address of every amfora user, cutting them off from a large
> swath of gemini and thereby crippling the client. Destroying the
> hundreds of hours that makeworld has no doubt spent building up his
> software and community. Unless he submits, unwavering, to ddevault?s
> ultimatum to "fix" his software.
>   
> And it worked.
> 
> Think carefully about the consequences of using gemini://srht.site.
> 
> Now, switching gears to rant about gemini more broadly. For context,
> I was one of the earliest adopters of gemini, although I don?t have
> any ties to its inception and the group of people who brainstormed
> ideas for the initial spec. I was a spectator who stumbled upon it
> while I was browsing through bongusta! one day [2].

  I am not fond of Drew (and it's for more than his just calling me a bad
name), but I'm trying square his actions against mine from 2019.  For
context, I was *the* first adopter of Gemini, writing my own server even
before Solderpunk could write one (for the record: he wrote the second
Gemini server).  I *broke* the spec with my implementation, not at all
agreeing with Solderpunk about some pretty fundamental issues with the
protocol, because at *that* time, the protocol:

	used single digit resonse codes
	no support for client certificates
	a link line of [text|url]
	no virtual hosting
	a request format ala gopher (including TABs!)
	no rediection
	no indication of pages are actually gone vs not found
	no MIME parameters

  I like to think I wasn't quite the dictator that Drew comes across as (in
both his Amfora ticket, or this message to the list:

	https://mailing-list-archive.gemi.dev/www/2020/003506.html

Who put *him* in charge of Gemini?)  I had (well, still have) strong
opinions on Gemini, but I did present my arguments for certain features, and
against others.  And it wasn't uncommon in the early days of sweeping
changes and mass updates to clients *and* servers.

  As a consequence, I find this seeming charge of "don't change the spec
EVER!" troublesome.  That once Solderpunk (where *IS* he, by the way?) makes
the few changes that are requested, that's it.  It's done.  No more
experimentation.  Ever.  It feels as if Gemini is ossifying even before it's
set in stone.  It's a weird feeling.

> It?s the magic of the smolnet. It?s fleeting; you can?t capture it in
> a bottle and you can?t freeze it in time by locking down the spec.
> Enjoy it while it lasts. I came up with the favicon emoji RFC because
> I thought it was a fun idea. I ported botany to gemini because I
> thought it was a fun idea. Don?t stifle your own ideas out of fear of
> what will happen to gemini://. Gemini will evolve whether you want it to
> or not.

  I thought the favicon emoji was a fun idea.  I still do.  I even support
it on my server.  Astrobotany is a *wonderful* use of client certificates
(and something I was hoping would happen when I was pushing for their use). 
And I agree, Gemini will evolve over time.  Inline images?  Okay, data: URLs
[3]!  Or wait, I know!  A MIME type of multiple/related!

  -spc (Muahahahahahahahahahaha!)

> [0] gemini://mozz.us/files/rfc_gemini_favicon.gmi
> [1] https://github.com/makeworld-the-better-one/amfora/issues/199
> [2] gopher://i-logout.cz:70/1/bongusta

[3]	I'm the joker responsible for that.  Gemini Client Torture Test #21.