A note, not an essay — expect it to change. This page shows how a wiki note reads: internal [[wiki links]] render as underlined-dotted links, and a backlinks panel sits at the bottom.

A hand-written HTML page is the most durable document format I know of that still looks like a document. It has no runtime, no dependencies, and no version that can go out of date. A file I wrote in 2004 opens today, pixel-for-pixel, in a browser that didn't exist then.

This connects to Gemtext & the small web — both are bets that constraint outlives capability. See also How I take notes for why I keep the source in plain text.

Things I no longer do

• Reach for a framework before there's a second page.
• Add a build step to save five keystrokes.
• Load a web font when the reader already owns a good one.

The test

Turn JavaScript off. If the page is worse, I've added fragility I have to maintain forever. If it's identical, I'm done. This whole site passes that test — see the colophon.