Joshua Blais argues that RSS (Miniflux), self-hosted XMPP with OMEMO, protocol-layer tools, and POSSE publishing reclaim attention from algorithmic silos.
Key Takeaways
Miniflux + RSS is the single recommended replacement for algorithmic feeds: you choose sources, no platform manipulates the queue.
Self-hosted XMPP with OMEMO encryption gives E2E group chat and DMs without trusting a host; Matrix is explicitly rejected as solving nothing over XMPP and requiring Electron.
POSSE (Publish on Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere): author content at your own domain first, push to socials via API, never consume them as a reader.
Search precision matters: time-bounded queries like before:2025 net/http go language outperform generic keywords on any engine.
DNS-level blocklists at the router plus a JS-disabled browser or uBlock Origin are the baseline mitigations recommended for browsing the modern web.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters immediately flagged the irony: the post advocating 1999-era minimalism loads roughly 1 MB of assets, which would have taken over a minute on a 56k modem.
The forward-looking question went mostly unanswered: how do you preserve protocol-layer openness without reimposing 1999-era constraints on bandwidth, discoverability, and UI friction?
One commenter pointed to fark.com as a still-running counterexample: human-curated aggregation with a Totalfark subscription model funding the operation without algorithmic amplification.
Notable Comments
@Terr_: frames the core failure as the internet delivering corporate-controlled distribution rather than the widely-available capital that lets individuals control machines for their own needs.
