J
John Ankarström
john.ankarstrom.se · Personal blog · on HN since 2018
John Ankarström writes about hand-written HTML websites, static versus dynamic sites, replacing JavaScript, and using old computers.
What HN saysCommenters share his posts on writing HTML by hand, saying others still do it, and one built a tiny static site generator inspired by it.
18HN people shared it
6linked it in comments
15stories submitted
767story points
1 year agolast shared
2018people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Writing HTML in HTML5 people · 316 points · first shared 2019 · 164 comments on HN
- 2Static versus Dynamic Websites4 people · 5 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 3Why use old computers and operating systems?3 people · 212 points · first shared 2021 · 142 comments on HN
- 4Let’s Replace JavaScript with Something Better2 people · 42 points · first shared 2018 · 88 comments on HN
- 5Using Windows Explorer as a Git IDE2 people · 21 points · first shared 2020 · 5 comments on HN
- 6The anti-pattern of responsive design1 people · 162 points · first shared 2021 · 148 comments on HN
- 7Designing an Declarative Alternative to JavaScript1 people · 3 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 8Is Zoom That Bad?1 people · 3 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 9Learning C as an Uneducated Hobbyist1 people · 3 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 10Html](Writing1 people · first shared 2021
What HN people wrote when they linked it
ChrisArchitect · 2021-04-07
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20238289
And if you want to do this again, see the followup post they made more recently 6 months ago:
http://john.ankarstrom.se/html2/
unsungNovelty · 2025-05-29
> For me, the joy is not in having a website, the joy is in building the website. Why would I want to hand off the joyful part?
To each their own. I wanted something functional. A stable platform which is organised. I also wanted to write more. Which I still haven't gotten to do. It's more of a functional project than an art project.
That doesn't mean the OP's website is bad. But that is not why I created my website. But I have thought about Writing HTML in HTML after being inspired from Writing HTML in HTML by John Ankarstrom [1]. But it will be a forever art project and not my real estate on the internet. It's OK to want different things from the indieweb. That's what makes it diverse.
1- http://john.ankarstrom.se/html/
acdw · 2021-01-31
Inspired by [http://john.ankarstrom.se/html](Writing HTML in HTML), as well as
other articles I'd been reading, I wrote [https://git.sr.ht/~acdw/unk](UNK), a
static site generator in 1000 bytes of POSIX sh.
Yesterday I realized even that is too bloated, so I pared it down to 445
bytes, resulting in NEF, the son of UNK. It's more a proof-of-concept than
anything, but I like it.
cookingoils · 2021-01-07
A much better post on the same topic: http://john.ankarstrom.se/html/
unicornporn · 2021-06-15
Some people still do this. http://john.ankarstrom.se/html/
superkuh · 2020-10-23
http://john.ankarstrom.se/html2/
>Sustainability is also the one of the many reasons why my web site is served over HTTP and not HTTPS. The problem with HTTPS is that you need to get a certificate from a trusted authority, which either costs money or is free but needs to be updated every month, and even if you pay for it, you need to renew the certificate every year or so. If the operation of your blog depends on a monthly certificate renewal from Let's Encrypt – even if the renewal is set up to be automatic – it is less sustainable than serving your site over HTTP. HTTP will always be around, will always be supported and will never require a certificate.
>Another problem with HTTPS is that it is very difficult to revert back to HTTP once you have started using HTTPS. Every outside link to your web site will be incorrect, and you can't redirect HTTPS traffic to HTTP without a valid certificate. In other words, once you start using HTTPS, you will be forever dependent on the certificate renewal process.