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Comment by lioeters | Hacker News Reader

I like the idea of a text-only browser, back to the basics. Oh and I miss web rings!

I'd kinda like to reinvent the "web" as a TUI. Like, every site is just a program compiled to a portable bytecode that interfaces in terminal codes and you'd "browse" it with a modified telnet client. No more bullshit styling you can't read supported by 200 javascript dependencies that refuse to let you click buttons if you have the audacity to be behind a dns filter, no more style over substance, no more animated gifs, no more advice animals, no more endless over-engineering to see who can do the least with the most resources.

Sounds a bit like Gopher. Which didn't really catch on.

> I like the idea of a text-only browser

Lynx is still available.

Bloody useless for ~90% of the current web though.

Take the HN frontpage as it is right now. I bet you can read a good 80% of the links with lynx and company right now (except, ironically, for the comment on HN itself because they are not correctly indented).

The actual problematic part of the web from the command line is dynamic web application (in this case I see a couple of links to youtube).

I've done a quick check and you're right about the current front page. The BBC story about WhatsApp is the first one that's really unpleasant to read (page 5/15 is the first with content, 8/15 is the last with content.)

The engadget link about Jolla is the worst because it somehow ends up as white text on a blue background.

true of course but the Venn circles of that 90% and "pages I immediately back out of in horror" are becoming increasingly overlappy

[ reply posted from links2 -g ]

Of course then you get into Gopher only territory. I wouldn't mind some CSS / HTML only sites like HN, your JS is limited to 5KB, jQuery isn't allowed, etc. Minify the web! Literally.

I think people that do care about this stuff already make webpages that are minimal. So there is probably no need to have a completely alternative space. Maybe just a directory/search engine that only indexes such pages.

Maybe a "Web Ring" that promotes such sites in honor of old web rings. Stamp your site with the minimalism stamp of approval.

Yes, and we do this search: https://bubblehunt.com Right now 1 link - 1 indexed page. And in the future we think to upgrade it - add 100 best resources about design and create best information bubble for this topic.

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