Offpunk and Cyberpunk : Text and Voice

by Ploum on 2022-03-14

I’m pleased to announce two unrelated punk releases. Offpunk 1.0, the first stable version of the distraction-free offline smolnet browser and the audiobook of Printeurs, my cyberpunk novel.

Printeurs, a cyberpunk novel

Printeurs is a dark, violent cyberpunk novel exploring the relationship between our identities and technologies and how all layers of society are, in a way or another, slaves of the system. The novel started on my blog and became a well received novel. The success encouraged my publisher to produce an audiobook version with the professionnal voice actor Loïc Richard.

Of course, it’s all in French. I would be very happy to see it translated in other languages but, for now, it’s all in French.

• The audiobook on Voolume
• Ordering the paper or epub version

It should also be available on libgen.rs, everyone’s favourite library and I hope to see the MP3 on torrenting sites soon. Counting on you…

Offpunk 1.0, the smolnet browser

Offpunk is a smolnet browser dedicated to browsing offline and distraction-free. It supports Gemini, Gopher, Spartan but also the Web. It works very well as an RSS reader and article viewer.

Until now, I haven’t talked about Offpunk outside of the Gemini world. But, with 1.0, I feel Offpunk is now ready for prime time. I’m hoping to see Offpunk packaged for multiple operating systems and I’m counting on you to spread the word. Many people not really aware of Gemini might be interested by the RSS/distraction free/offline browsing. They start using on their favourite website and, without realizing, they end on Gemini. With this small contribution, I hope to spread the world about Gemini to all those people tired of the attention-whore web.

• Offpunk, official page
• Offpunk, release 1.0
• Offpunk on Lobste.rs

If you are wondering why Offpunk is different from other Gemini clients, here’s are the strengths:

• It’s pure command line. No mouse, no keyboard shortcuts. You need to type commands.
• One tool to rule them all: web, gemini, gopher, spartan, rss…
• Web pages are prettified and content is, by default, extracted. Get rid of the cruft.
• Images are displayed in your terminal, thanks to Chafa. AlphaNerd level +9000.
• It works best offline. You still look like a nerd even without connection.
• You don’t miss anything thanks to subscriptions.
• You can build an offline knowledge base with the power of lists.
• Lists are text file opened in your favourite text editor.
• You can still open page or file in another tool with the simple "open"
• When nobody is looking, the command "help" is always available
• It’s a simple python file. No need to do complex installation.
• All dependancies are optional. Type "version" to see if you are missing some.

In all honnesty, I believe that Offpunk is a great introduction to command-line computing. If you never really understood the command line and want to learn, Offpunk is a great start. A small set of commands and "help" always available. Only remember that "q" is useful to leave a page that you are currently viewing (the pager "less" is used).

Despites trying, I never managed to understand emacs and became a true Vim/Unix guy. I feel that Offpunk kind of reflect that. It is in line with the Vim philosophy (at least how I understand it). In Offpunk, I really feel at home. Would be curious to hear from Emacs/Offpunk users.

Anyway, let’s celebrate 1.0 by all sending a huge hug to Solderpunk for both creating Gemini and AV-98, son of VF-1 and father of Offpunk. Who is joining?