---
description: A note on writing plain, durable HTML.
planted: 2024-08-11
tended: 2026-05-30
---
# The case for plain HTML

*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 It has no runtime, no dependencies, and no version that can go out of date.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](index.html) — both are bets that *constraint outlives capability*. See also [How I take notes](index.html) 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](../about/index.html).

## Linked from

- [Gemtext & the small web](index.html)
- [Home-lab & self-hosting](index.html)
- [Moving my weblog off Gemini (without leaving it)](../weblog/moving-off-gemini.html)