How did I created this blog?

Hey there!

So, I thought I’d chat a bit about the tech stack behind this blog. Maybe it’ll be helpful for anyone out there thinking about starting their own blog but feeling a bit lost on where to begin.

First off, let’s talk about why I didn’t go with the usual suspects. The main reason? I’m not a big fan of trusting companies with my content. I want to make sure my ideas don’t get snatched up because of some sneaky legal jargon buried in a 124-page agreement. If you’ve seen the recent Firefox blunder, you’ll know companies are always looking to squeeze as much value out of users as they can, even if it’s predatory. I’d rather not deal with that. Another thing is how easy (or hard) it is to switch blog providers. It’s not always a breeze to move your posts from one platform to another. Hosting my own blog means I can switch things up whenever I want. And then there’s the whole features and pricing thing. Like most people, I love free stuff, but the free options for blogging often feel pretty limited. Want to use your own domain? That’s usually a paid feature, and sometimes it’s not even an option. And don’t get me started on analytics—I want to know what my readers are into without invading their privacy, so Google Analytics is a no-go for me. Those are the big reasons.

Now, let’s dive into the tech stack and the decisions I made. First, I wanted something hassle-free and easy to set up. Lucky for me, there are plenty of options out there, and of course, I wanted to host it for free. I wasn’t keen on using a frontend framework—why overcomplicate a simple blog? So, I skipped Vue. I was open to trying something new, so I started playing around with Astro. It turned out to be more than I needed. I wanted to get my blog up and running in about an hour, and while Astro has some great themes, the setup process was a bit too much for me. Still, it’s a solid choice if you’re looking for something more than just a basic blog. I also considered Jekyll and Hugo, checked out their themes, and eventually settled on Hugo with the not-much theme. The only downside? Hugo doesn’t come with a built-in CMS, so you’re either stuck with a third-party CMS or, like me, writing a lot of markdown.

For hosting, I went with Netlify. They’ve got a nice free plan and some cool features that make creating and hosting your website a breeze. I used one of their templates to set up my Hugo repo, which sped things up a bit. They also have a prebuilt CI/CD pipeline, so I didn’t have to set one up myself—pretty handy. Adding your own domain is also super easy. I’m not using it, but they even have an easy way to add a CMS to your site if you need one.

So, that’s the lowdown on how I put this blog together. Hopefully, it gives you some ideas if you’re thinking about starting your own!