On the Independence of Software
I have little influence over the wider web, but I can control my small part of it — Kate Morley
I originally wrote this as a reply to someone, but figured it was long enough (and good enough) to be it’s own thing. It has been edited to fill in the needed context, and slightly expanded to go into more detail. (In reality, the point is the same but I rewrote most of it to make it flow better)
On my main website, isaac.run, I’ve posted John Perry Barlow’s « A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace » to the homepage. I first came across it mirrored on Cole’s capsule and it really resonated with me. After I let some people know that I had updated my site, I got a comment from someone who felt that the independence will go away without the resistance of tech professionals. I took the opportunity to respond with my thoughts on what is already being done and has been done for decades to curb the effect of commercialization, censorship, and other attempts at squashing expression. The rest of this is essentially my personal essay on the state of the tech world with a focus on Open Source.
It is undoubtedly the case that the Web is less individualized than it was in the 90s. Fewer and fewer people truly know how to use HTML and CSS, instead relying on website builders or CMS’s like Wordpress, Squarespace, or Wix. These tools have their own merits, namely lowering the barrier to get yourself online, but the big (and overwhelming) demerit is that you directly place all control into the hands of these corporations. You must work within the boundaries they set, use their services only in ways they approve, and often pay vast sums for the privilege. Sure, some tools are even Open Source like Wordpress that you can change to your liking, but if your goal is (in all likelihood) a static site, why bother learning all of PHP, Javascript, MySQL, CSS, and HTML anyway when you could just learn HTML from Mozilla Developer Network or W3Schools for free in less than half an hour?
I am of course speaking with a bias as someone with a tech background and one who manages my own servers, the astute among you will notice that I have left out the even bigger benefit of delegating control to corporations: they manage everything (builder, software, security, domains, etc) for you. All of this is often done through the command line, which:
- Takes months (years) to properly learn
- Is terribly not user-friendly
- Has so many opportunities to ruin everything as to not make it worth it for beginners
For static sites, you really don’t need a server because nothing gets processed. I use Cloudflare Pages for much the same reason as Kate Morley, because they are a privacy-focused company, and because of the incredible simplicity of Pages. Once you’ve coded your website, you just head to Cloudflare Pages, upload your files, and you’re done. No worrying about SSL, DNS, domain names, or configuration. Disclaimer: Cloudflare is an Internet company, so knowing about the things I just mentioned can make it easier to get started, but they do have helpful documentation and a support chat. You can also find countless guides if you need it explained a different way.
I would like to be clear that the main focus of this essay is not « Do everything yourself » but rather seek independent alternatives to big commercial services. If you want a website, look for a local designer! (I can do this for you! I manage every aspect for you for very affordable prices. If this is something that interests you, my email is ig@isaac.run, and we could work out a customized package that includes exactly what you want, without all the extra bloat and features (and cost) that companies try to push.)
There are a lot of efforts by many different types of people to keep the Web (and software in general) alive and try and take control away from the big corporations. The basis of it is FOSS which lets anyone get the code and modify it for free. There are several projects, some bigger than others, that aim to give people more control over their part of the Web. Some companies like Cloudflare, Neocities, w3schools, and Web 1.0 hosting all give users some free space to put webpages online. There are also alternatives to HTML, like Gemini, Gopher, and Scroll. There are also several privacy tools like SecureDrop for journalists and Tor browsing, and messaging apps like Signal. The harder part is getting people to use an alternative to a popular service. You’ve probably heard of BlueSky and Mastodon which are Free and Open Source Software that aim to be more privacy-centric and ad-free than X. The hard part about being private is not having user data to sell, so they either need to rely on sponsorships (which often don’t cover all costs), expect users to donate (very few do), or switch it to a subscription (which further decreases its reach). Especially at the start, new software is hard to use, full of bugs, and almost always geared towards developers. This means that the user base is a certain group of people often misaligned (not in a negative way) compared to the eventual target user.
Ironically, those same corporations trying to take away our independence also rely on independent software to make their tools work. All of the tools and services that I use or provide are Open Source, like my server operating system, web server, mail server, Gemini server, and analytics engine, and when I code on my personal computer, I use the Atom (RIP) code editor. Like what’s said at the end of the Wired John Perry Barlow interview (below), the independence of the Internet does not happen automatically, but through the collective effort of thousands and millions of designers, developers, activists, hobbyists, hackers, lawyers, anybody who wants to see the Internet as a place to be.
If you agree with I’ve written, please please please make your own thing on the Internet! Then send it to me! The world needs more individual stuff, stuff that’s weird, organic, imperfect, but most importantly, human. (If you made it with AI, I will block you)
As machines become more and more efficient and perfect, so it will become clear that imperfection is the greatness of man — Ernst Fischer
Further reading:
A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (mirrored by Cole on makeworld.space)
Wired interview with John Perry Barlow about his Declaration
đź“… Posted 2025-07-02.
đź“ť Updated 2025-07-02.