If anyone is interested in self-hosting on a budget, I made twinkle -- a tiny gemini server that runs on microcontrollers. Tested on Raspberry Pico W; it should work on anything running micropython, though. https://github.com/Zedelghem/twinkle

3 months ago · 👍 rdlmda, martyh, half_elf_monk

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You can indeed hook it to your router and you do not need an FQDN (although that's cheap and easy to set up). What you do need, however, is some way of faking a stable IP address (unless you have one from your internet provider, but those are expensive, usually). The easiest way I found is using a DDNS provider—they dynamically route your domain name to a changing ip that your network is being assigned. Try DuckDNS, last time I used it it was free. https://www.duckdns.org. I'll prepare a better documentation and a tutorial but it will have to wait until October. I am moving soon! ;) · 2 months ago

This is pretty cool. Can I hook a pico W to my router? Do I need to find a FQDN and redirect it throught that router? The bottlenecks for me are that part of the equation... how to (safely) funnel all 14 visitors my capsule will ever get from the internet to my host. That's where the friction/bottleneck is... · 2 months ago

I guess you could run it in a RP2040 emulator. But there are better options for Linux. The official Gemini Software page has a bunch of servers listed: gemini://geminiprotocol.net/software/ and I am sure they will all outperform twinkle. I wrote it specifically to be able to host capsules on super-cheap hardware. · 2 months ago

Nice! Do you *need* a microcontroller for it, or can you run it on a regular Linux instance? · 3 months ago