If you are new around here, you won’t notice the changes I have recently made to my site - but if you’ve visited here before, things will be looking quite different!
I did a full rewrite of my blog using the Antfustyle Astro template, built in a shortform Notes section (that automatically gets posted to Twitter/Mastodon), and will be working to add my org-roam directory to future builds as a digital garden. This site serves as an evolution to my understanding of how to be a netizen, allowing it to be the hub of all my online activity.
Why astro from hugo?#
I use Astro everywhere now - it was an easy way to build in my blog to that which I work on professionally as I have a component library about a mile long that just keeps getting built out.
Astro, to me, seems like the endgame - pure HTML and CSS at build time, JS only when you need it (you probably don’t need much of it). The island architecture is really something else and flips the SPA idea on it’s head, making it entirely irrelevant for 85% of sites.
When I started this site in 2020, I built the whole thing in NextJS. That site was something like 2.6GB. I then switched to hugo last year, and that site was 20x smaller than the NextJS site, and I am including hundreds of images in that. This site will be even smaller, faster, and better optimized. That is my skill issue that Hugo isn’t smaller than this Astro site - but nonetheless, I am looking at a 5x improvement already (due to image optimizations etc.).
Hugo is a great static site generator, and I highly recommend it - were I not using Astro in my other projects, I would use Hugo for everything, so this is not a post saying anything to the contrary. Hugo is part of the solution for a bloated web, and if you are making a static content site, it should be right up there in your list of considerations. I just value keeping everything simple, and because I use Astro everywhere else, it was just a natural progression.
Do I need to re-subscribe to the RSS feed.#
No. It should be migrated over as I am using the same endpoints as I was on the Hugo site. If you are not subscribed via RSS, consider doing so!
What’s next?#
I will be making a concerted effort to link back to more indie creators, those with small web presence and joining webrings/networks that bring back the spirit of the internet as it was originally conceived. We need more blogs, individual creators, and breaking free from the social media hellscape that plagues us today. The internet is much bigger than 5 sites, and we need to be part of the push back against privacy and security infringing legislation the world over.
This little site aims to be just that little act of resistance.
As always, God bless, and until next time.
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