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UID:pretalx-europython-2026-BFDXVF@programme.europython.eu
DTSTART;TZID=CET:20260715T122000
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DESCRIPTION:The web has grown into something its creators never imagined 
 — a tangle of trackers\, JavaScript bundles\, and cookie consent banners
  standing between people and the content they came for. But alongside this
  bloated web\, a quieter movement has been growing: the Small Internet. Co
 mmunities of developers\, writers\, and tinkerers are building spaces that
  prioritize content over chrome\, using protocols like Gemini that deliber
 ately resist the complexity of the modern web. The Geminispace has grown f
 rom 200k unique URLs across 750 gemini capsules in 2021\, to 530k URLs acr
 oss almost 5\,000 capsules at the time of writing.\nThis talk is an invita
 tion to explore that world. We'll start with the "why" — what's driving 
 people to seek alternatives to the modern web\, and what the Small Interne
 t's philosophy of intentional simplicity offers to developers who spend th
 eir days wrestling with ever-growing complexity. Then we'll get practical.
  The Gemini Protocol\, created in 2019\, sits in a sweet spot between Goph
 er's austerity and HTTP's complexity: using a simple TLS trust mechanism a
 nd a markup language called Gemtext\, it’s deliberately designed to resi
 st feature creep. You'll learn how the protocol works\, what Geminispace l
 ooks like from the inside\, and how communities like Tilde servers carry o
 n the collaborative spirit of early Unix.\nThe second half of the talk sho
 wcases how Python can be specially useful to interact with this space. Ast
 ronomo is a modern Gemini browser for the terminal\, built with Textual\, 
 supporting Gemini\, Gopher\, and Finger protocols out of the box. It has r
 ich Gemtext rendering\, identity management\, RSS reader\, and full mouse 
 support. It's the lens through which we'll explore the Geminispace.\nOn th
 e server side\, Xitzin is a framework for building Gemini applications: de
 corator-based routing\, Jinja2 templates\, and async support. A step-by-st
 ep walkthrough will show how to build a microblogging application from scr
 atch: user accounts powered by Gemini's client certificate system (no pass
 words\, no sign-up forms)\, posting through native input prompts\, and thr
 eaded comments — all in under 100 lines of Python.\nYou don't need to ab
 andon the web to appreciate what the Small Internet offers. Whether you le
 ave this talk ready to launch your own Gemini capsule\, contribute to a Ti
 lde\, or simply with a fresh perspective on what "simple" can look like in
  software\, you'll walk away with working knowledge of a corner of the int
 ernet that many developers don't know exists\, and the Python tools to sta
 rt exploring it.
DTSTAMP:20260708T223907Z
LOCATION:S3B
SUMMARY:Untangling the Web: Alternative Internet Protocols in Python - Alan
  Velasco
URL:https://programme.europython.eu/europython-2026/talk/BFDXVF/
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