/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/ignition/ssl/cert_wrapper.py:34: CryptographyDeprecationWarning: Properties that return a naïve datetime object have been deprecated. Please switch to not_valid_after_utc.
  return self.certificate.not_valid_after
# I needed to adjust myself to fit in

``` Author, date and license
Author:       -fab- <fab@redterminal.org>
License:      CC BY 4.0
Published on: Mon, 11 Mar 2024 00:24:28 +0100
Last updated: Mon, 11 Mar 2024 00:24:28 +0100
```

I said I avoid talking about myself in my blog but this time
I thought I have to (and I feel a little anxious about it).

When I did concern myself with the smolnet idea in 2021
beginning with the Gemini protocol, I was very intrigued by
the technical aspects of minimalism and simple principles.
The big web is a mess of BigTech conglomerates which try to
squeeze every bit of information out of the user and an
ongoing process of 'enshittification'. I like the idea of a
small and slow web. The IndyWeb movement is very promising.
Local small sites from the people for the people. So I built
up a gemini capsule to begin with. I wanted to be part of
the movement of taking back the web.

Unfortunately I'm not really a peoples person IRL and I
don't know many people. In german we would say that I'm no
"Mann von Welt". There are many things I don't know about
(although I'm able to learn and form an opinion!) and I had
to learn a lot about the whole smolnet culture. The first
thing was that I was relatively conservative in my political
views in the past.

But now I was thrown into a world which was full of tabletop
roleplayers (which I never got into except some video
games), communists, liberals, LGBTQ+ people, climate
activists, anarchists, "wokeness" and a lot of ideas, which
I've heard of but never took serious. It was not quite a
culture clash but I had some stubborn prejudices to deal
with myself. In fact I still have some opinions which may
not be the most popular in this culture. But think I mostly
got over it. Especially because I want to be a part of it.

And the reality is that this VERY diverse culture is the
*main* culture of the smolnet and especially fedi. There are
some conservative voices but they are a minority (which
maybe isn't too bad to see all sides). I always felt it to
be difficult to cope with so many very different
individuals. For example I didn't like kids up until around
22. They are loud and rebellious. But I'm willing to learn
and can hopefully get used to their behavior. And they are
important because they grew up in this BigTech world and
know their inherent problems from day one.

I had to get used to all these new forms of existence and
ideas and it's an ongoing process. And I was born in the
'70s so I'm maybe a little rusty but I *want* to change. And
I hope that I'm welcome despite my past.

If you want to talk to me or discuss some aspects of this
statement, you can always write an email or contact me via
Mastodon/ActivityPub. I'm always happy for feedback.

All in all - Have fun!
-fab-

--
=> /gemlog/ Back to index
=> / Homepage