1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,640
Welcome to the Deep Dive, the show that, well, we extract the essential knowledge

2
00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,750
from some pretty dense source material to give you a shortcut to being genuinely

3
00:00:08,750 --> 00:00:09,540
well informed.

4
00:00:09,540 --> 00:00:13,890
Before we jump in today, I just want to give a quick shout out to our supporter for

5
00:00:13,890 --> 00:00:18,630
this Deep Dive, Safe Server. If you're looking at modern software, maybe self-hosting

6
00:00:18,630 --> 00:00:22,370
solutions or just trying to speed up your digital transformation, Safe Server is

7
00:00:22,370 --> 00:00:23,940
really the partner you need.

8
00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:28,400
Yeah, they're great. They actively support hosting for simple open source software,

9
00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,160
just like the platform we're about to get into today.

10
00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:36,000
Exactly. You can find out more at www.safeserver.de.

11
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,750
Okay, so today we are tackling a problem that I think everyone feels just

12
00:00:40,750 --> 00:00:45,380
information overload. If you're a writer, and especially if you're a beginner

13
00:00:45,380 --> 00:00:49,840
trying to publish anything online, you are just hit with this huge, noisy, complex

14
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:50,960
digital world.

15
00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:55,290
Oh, it's the digital equivalent of trying to have a quiet conversation in a packed

16
00:00:55,290 --> 00:00:59,280
arena. Yeah, it really is. The platform becomes the enemy of the writing process.

17
00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,760
It does. And you've got these systems that need multiple dependencies, giant

18
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:07,920
databases and interfaces that are, you know, constantly trying to distract you.

19
00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,600
All the clicks, the likes, the notifications. I see so many new writers just give

20
00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,520
up because the technical or even the social barrier feels way too high.

21
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:21,240
Absolutely. So our mission today is to do a deep dive into write freely.

22
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:26,640
It's a platform that promises this really radical back to basics approach.

23
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,740
We've gone through the source material, the code philosophies, the feature sets,

24
00:01:30,740 --> 00:01:32,680
and we're going to unpack it for you.

25
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,680
The beginner. We want to show you what makes this platform so appealing, why its

26
00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,560
technical side is so simple for deployment and how it still connects you to the

27
00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:41,760
wider digital world.

28
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,960
Right. And let's start with the user experience, because that is, I think, write

29
00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:47,880
freely is absolute core philosophy.

30
00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,720
The sources just make it so clear. This platform is fundamentally made for writing.

31
00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,720
And when they say that, they really mean they've stripped everything away.

32
00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,150
I mean, if you look at the feature list, what's missing is almost more important

33
00:01:58,150 --> 00:01:59,080
than what's there.

34
00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,800
Right. It is. Yeah. You won't find a newsfeed.

35
00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:06,010
You won't find aggressive notifications, follower accounts or any of those features

36
00:02:06,010 --> 00:02:08,000
that kind of push you toward validation.

37
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,440
Like the likes or the claps.

38
00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,240
Exactly. It's a very purposeful defense against the attention economy.

39
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,880
So it's about removing performance pressure.

40
00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,840
Totally. You log in and you're just faced with the editor.

41
00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:24,250
That's it. The whole experience is designed to be plain, clean, and this is super

42
00:02:24,250 --> 00:02:24,920
important.

43
00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:27,000
Autosaving. Oh, that's huge.

44
00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,830
It removes that anxiety of losing your work and it just keeps your focus completely

45
00:02:31,830 --> 00:02:33,360
on the text you're creating.

46
00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:38,480
OK. I think we need to quickly touch on the backbone of that editor, which is Markdown.

47
00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:42,040
Because if you're a beginner, you might hear that term and think it means complex

48
00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:42,400
code.

49
00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,120
Right. And it's actually the opposite.

50
00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,400
It's a huge part of why the platform works so well.

51
00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,700
So can you break down why Markdown is like the perfect tool for this kind of

52
00:02:51,700 --> 00:02:53,520
digital minimalism?

53
00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:59,690
Of course. Think of Markdown as a future proof, totally universal language for just

54
00:02:59,690 --> 00:03:00,680
formatting text.

55
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:05,600
So instead of clicking a Talics button on some big chunky toolbar, which behind the

56
00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:07,160
scenes, inserts a bunch of

57
00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,040
complex hitting code, you just wrap your word in asterisks.

58
00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:11,280
Simple. So simple.

59
00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,230
And instead of picking heading one from a drop down menu, you just use a single

60
00:03:15,230 --> 00:03:16,120
hash symbol.

61
00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:17,600
So the benefit here is twofold.

62
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,240
Then first, your hands stay on the keyboard.

63
00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,120
So you stay in the flow, stay in the flow.

64
00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:28,040
And second, that Markdown translates into incredibly clean, simple HTML when it's

65
00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:28,520
published.

66
00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,360
This keeps the technical side of things really low.

67
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:36,960
Pages load instantly and the reader gets this pure, unpolluted reading experience.

68
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:38,680
Where the words are front and center.

69
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:39,200
Exactly.

70
00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:40,440
It's elegant simplicity.

71
00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:40,840
Okay.

72
00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,880
So clean experience for the writer, clean experience for the reader.

73
00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,840
But this brings us to what is traditionally the biggest hurdle for beginners.

74
00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:48,920
Self-hosting.

75
00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:49,240
Yeah.

76
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:50,280
Dependency hell.

77
00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:51,280
Dependency hell.

78
00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,490
That moment you decide you want to own your digital space and suddenly you need

79
00:03:55,490 --> 00:03:56,040
specific

80
00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,440
versions of PHP, a web server, a complex database setup.

81
00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,960
The sources suggest write freely just, sidesteps all of that.

82
00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:05,600
It absolutely does.

83
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,320
And this is where the technical choices are, I think, revolutionary for a beginner.

84
00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:15,920
Write freely is described as light and easy to install because of its underlying

85
00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:16,080
tech.

86
00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:18,080
It's written in Go or Golang.

87
00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,760
We hear about Go all the time in modern infrastructure.

88
00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:25,000
But what does that actually mean for someone trying to get this software up and

89
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:25,400
running?

90
00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,480
So Go is built for efficiency and speed.

91
00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,560
But the key benefit for you, the beginner host, is how it's packaged.

92
00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,760
Write freely deploys as a static binary.

93
00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:36,920
A static binary.

94
00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:37,680
OK, what's that?

95
00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,800
Think of it like a complete self-contained application file.

96
00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:42,440
It's like a perfectly packed suitcase.

97
00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,800
It has everything it needs inside that one file to run.

98
00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:45,960
Oh, wow.

99
00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,800
Compare that to, say, a classic WordPress install where you have to go shopping for

100
00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:50,640
all the parts, right?

101
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,120
You install PHP, you configure a web server like Apache or Nginx.

102
00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,080
Then you set up a MySQL database separately.

103
00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:58,400
Right. It's a whole checklist.

104
00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,720
It is. With write freely, you download one small file and it's supporting assets.

105
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:04,320
The sources are really clear on this.

106
00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,480
No other dependencies required to get started.

107
00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,240
That is, that's genuinely shocking simplicity.

108
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,200
So the process isn't installing and configuring all these different layers of

109
00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:14,720
software.

110
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,840
It's just download, run, and you're online.

111
00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:21,680
Precisely. And that's why it's so easy on your server.

112
00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,080
The resources it needs are so minimal.

113
00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,760
A really good example from the sources is that it can run comfortably on a tiny,

114
00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:30,680
low powered device like a Raspberry Pi.

115
00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:31,520
That's incredible.

116
00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:33,840
That just lowers the bar for self-hosting so much.

117
00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:37,000
You don't need some expensive dedicated server just to run a blog.

118
00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:37,680
Not at all.

119
00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:38,120
Yeah.

120
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:42,640
And for database management, which is another huge pain point for beginners, they

121
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:43,640
minimize that too.

122
00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,080
For the quickest start, it has built in support for SchoolLite.

123
00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,160
So the whole database is just one file on your system.

124
00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:50,960
Just one file.

125
00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,080
You don't have to manage a complex SQL server.

126
00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:57,160
Now, if your community grows a lot over time, you do have the option to migrate to

127
00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:59,920
something bigger like MySchool or PostgreSQL later.

128
00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:02,880
But that initial setup is totally friction-free.

129
00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:04,800
And we know the simplicity isn't fragile.

130
00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,040
The sources call it mature and stable.

131
00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:13,660
And they point out that this exact curd base has powered over 550,000 blogs on

132
00:06:13,660 --> 00:06:14,520
write.s.

133
00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,200
Which is their hosted service, yeah.

134
00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,240
Over the last decade, that's a pretty robust proof of concept.

135
00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:20,880
Plus, it's fully open source.

136
00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,280
Stability and accessibility all covered.

137
00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:23,920
Great.

138
00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:28,520
So we've established it's excellent for a single writer who wants to self-host

139
00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:29,120
easily.

140
00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:34,040
But the sources also say you can write together and build a community.

141
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,800
How does it do that if it intentionally lacks all those social features?

142
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:40,200
It seems like a contradiction.

143
00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:44,240
It is a bit of a contradiction, but it solves it by not trying to replicate the

144
00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,160
centralized social web we all know.

145
00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,400
Instead, it connects to the decentralized web.

146
00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,480
And this is the power of Activity Pub or AP.

147
00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:54,400
Ah, Activity Pub.

148
00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,960
So that's the engine behind the Fediverse things like Mastodon.

149
00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,400
Can you break down what that means for a write freely blog?

150
00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,320
Like, how does it talk to everything else?

151
00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:07,320
OK, so when you enable Activity Pub on your write freely blog, you're basically

152
00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,600
just telling your server to speak the same language as every other federated

153
00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,200
server out there. We call this federation.

154
00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:14,960
And your blog post becomes portable across that whole network.

155
00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,880
Exactly. So in practice, if someone is on Mastodon, they don't have to go

156
00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:25,320
visit your URL every day or even sign up for your specific write freely

157
00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,760
instance. They can just follow your blog's handle right from their Mastodon account.

158
00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:33,680
So their feed just includes your new blog post automatically right alongside their

159
00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:35,640
friends short posts and pictures.

160
00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,760
That's it. They can bookmark it. They can share it with their followers and they

161
00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,560
can interact with your content without ever leaving their preferred platform.

162
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,680
That transforms your blog from this static website on an island into a dynamic

163
00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,720
part of the decentralized social web.

164
00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,680
It's a huge advantage for building an audience, especially for a beginner.

165
00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,040
Yeah, because you're not building an audience from scratch on a new network.

166
00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:01,440
You're tapping into an existing ecosystem, an ecosystem of millions of people who

167
00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:03,320
are already invested in this kind of content.

168
00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:07,200
But what if I want to build a community on my own server and I want to bring in

169
00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,800
writers from, say, another platform I'm already part of?

170
00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,280
It supports that too with Oath 2.0.

171
00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,640
That's just the standard way to let users from other platforms, maybe a company

172
00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:22,400
intranet or another social group, smoothly join your write freely instance

173
00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:24,120
without any friction.

174
00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,560
It's great for focused internal writing communities as well.

175
00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:29,080
OK, so that's Connectivity Square.

176
00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,400
We've done the writing, the deployment, the networking.

177
00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:36,280
Let's wrap up with the practical features and the sort of ethical stance that the

178
00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,280
sources highlight. I know privacy is a big one.

179
00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:40,360
It is the defining ethical stance.

180
00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,480
The philosophy is clearly privacy by default.

181
00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:48,640
The software is just engineered to collect the absolute minimum amount of data.

182
00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,200
And it never publicizes more than you consent to, right?

183
00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:56,160
Never. In an era where every single click and engagement is tracked and monetized

184
00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:00,200
by these giant platforms, that commitment is just vital for building trust.

185
00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,960
That's very reassuring. I'm also curious about identity management.

186
00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,400
You know, writers often use pen names or want different spaces for different

187
00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,400
topics. Yeah. And this is a really clever feature for managing your writing life.

188
00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,160
A single account lets you seamlessly create multiple blogs.

189
00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:19,120
So you could have your main professional blog, a separate blog for a niche hobby,

190
00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:22,960
and maybe an anonymous pen name for some creative work. And write freely,

191
00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,080
make sure those aren't publicly linked unless you want them to be. Correct.

192
00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:27,240
They operate independently.

193
00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,520
It gives the writer this really granular control over their public persona.

194
00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,800
So efficient organization without giving up privacy.

195
00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:39,800
And what about organizing posts within a blog? Are there complex menus for that?

196
00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,360
Nope, no complex menus. Stick into the minimalism.

197
00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,240
Organization is really intuitive. You just categorize articles using simple

198
00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:47,880
hashtags.

199
00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:52,040
Familiar to anyone on social media. Very familiar, but without the clutter.

200
00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:56,320
And if you need a classic webpage, like an about page, you don't need a separate

201
00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:56,560
tool.

202
00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,200
You just write a regular post and then you pin it to your blog.

203
00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,000
And it becomes a permanent static page. Instantly.

204
00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,880
Plus you can manage drafts and publish to all those multiple blogs we just talked

205
00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:07,640
about all from one central place.

206
00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:12,320
That's a lot of functionality with very little complexity. And lastly,

207
00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,760
what about global accessibility? Is this just for English speakers? Not at all.

208
00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:19,680
The sources point out that it's remarkably international.

209
00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:24,080
The blog elements are localized in over 20 languages and crucially,

210
00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:29,200
it has first-class support for non-Latin and right to left or RTL script languages.

211
00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,880
So it's not just a basic translation. It's baked into the design. It is,

212
00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,240
which makes it a genuinely global accessible writing environment.

213
00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:40,240
That really wraps up an impressive package that a distraction-free

214
00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:41,840
environment built on markdown,

215
00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:45,600
incredibly easy deployment with that go static binary,

216
00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,000
decentralized reach through activity pub,

217
00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,960
and a really strong ethical stance on privacy.

218
00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,360
So for you, the listener, the beginner,

219
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,640
who's maybe ready to take that leap into self-publishing,

220
00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:56,880
the choice is pretty clear.

221
00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,200
You can self-host using that static binary for a minimal setup,

222
00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,920
or you can choose the managed hosting path via write.s.

223
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,480
And choosing the managed service is a great option because it directly funds the

224
00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,680
ongoing development of this amazing open source software.

225
00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:13,640
Right. So here's our final thought for you takeaway.

226
00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:18,320
In a digital economy that is just dominated by platforms that prioritize

227
00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,800
feature bloat, notifications, and engagement metrics,

228
00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:26,280
what inherent value are you placing on the act of digital minimalism?

229
00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:31,200
Is choosing a simple, stable platform like Write Freely One focused purely on

230
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,960
clean content delivery, a revolutionary act of self-possession in itself?

231
00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:37,160
It's a great question to think about.

232
00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,240
A great question to ponder as you define your own digital home.

233
00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,520
And remember, whether you're supporting open source software or you're looking

234
00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,240
for robust infrastructure for your transformation, check out our supporter,

235
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:47,960
Safe Server.

236
00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:52,440
You can find all the info you need at www.safeserver.de.

237
00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,000
That's all the knowledge we have for this deep dive.

238
00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:55,960
We'll see you next time.