Exploring Geminispace with Lagrange on Linux

Tired of ads, tracking, and doomscrolling? Lagrange lets you explore Geminispace — a stripped‑down, distraction‑free corner of the net.

The FOSS Force Linux App of the Week — Lagrange

Have you ever heard of Geminispace? I hadn’t, until I ran into Lagrange. Actually, there are three open source projects that share the name Lagrange, and of course they’re all on GitHub, just to make things confusing. The one connected to Geminispace is covered under the BSD 2‑Clause License.

Before I get into Lagrange, I should first talk about Geminispace.

What is Geminispace?

For those who’ve not heard of Geminispace, think of it as a text-only internet.

Remember those days? I do.

Imagine having web pages without all the BS, where you can open a page at unheard of speeds, not worry about JavaScript vulnerabilities, not have to deal with ads, and enjoy a consistent experience across the board.

That’s what Geminispace offers.

Now, Geminispace isn’t nearly as widely adopted as HTTP, and I cannot imagine that it ever will be. After all, what would the masses do without the likes of Instagram? For those of us who don’t depend on social media as a lifeline to our souls, however, the idea of Geminispace is pretty appealing.

The benefits of Geminispace include:

• Improved privacy and simplicity.
• Strict limitations on data transfer.
• A design that makes exploitation more difficult.
• Promotes a DIY-compatible content delivery system.
• It’s fast.
• It’s easy to read.
• Distraction-free.

Ironically enough, this old-school-looking and feeling technology is actually new(ish). Geminispace started in June 2019, and although adoption has been slow and minimal, it’s still chugging along. Those who are old enough to remember the likes of Gopher will truly enjoy Geminispace.

If you’re more interested in using the internet as a tool for learning, and less for socialization and doomscrolling, Geminispace will be right up your alley.

That’s where Lagrange (the app not the ZZ Top song) comes in.

What is Lagrange?

Lagrange is an open source Geminispace client that is lightweight, simple, and fast. Lagrange behaves like a traditional browser (while looking rather old-school) and even includes some similar features, such as bookmarks, some themes, favorites, identities, tabs, and more.

You can install Lagrange from Flatpak, so it can be added to most Linux distributions. If you’ve not installed and configured Flatpak, make sure to check out “How to Make Your Linux System Flatpak Ready.”

Once you have Flatpak configured and working, you can install Lagrange with the command:

flatpak install flathub fi.skyjake.Lagrange

Once you’ve installed Lagrange, you should find it listed in your desktop menu. Open the app, and you’ll see what looks like a web browser from the Netscape Navigator era.

Outside of the look and feel, the first difference you’ll notice when using Lagrange to browse Geminispace is that you don’t use http://; instead, you use gemini://. Easy, right?

The next question is, where do you find geminispaces? After all, you can’t simply type gemini://google.com, because that’s not a thing. Instead, go to gemini://geminiquickst.art and you’ll see an easy-to-read page that serves as a launching point for you to start learning more about Geminispace.

Once a page is loaded, you can scroll through it, click on links, and do many of the things you would do with HTTP pages, only without all the bells and whistles.

Some of the cool Gemini sites I’ve found include:

• gemini://warmedal.se/~antenna/ – news aggregator
• gemini://skyjake.fi/~Cosmos/ – news aggregator
• gemini://gemi.dev/cgi-bin/wp.cgi/ – view Wikipedia via Gemini
• gemini://cdg.thegonz.net/ – a collaborative directory for Gemini spaces
• gemini://bbs.geminispace.org – communication platform
• gemini://gemi.dev/cgi-bin/chilly.cgi/ – weather
• gemini://gemi.dev/awesome.gmi – list of Gemini sites

I’m not saying that Gemini is going to overtake HTTP. There’s zero chance of that. But for those of us who fondly remember the day when the World Wide Web was a place to learn without all of the distractions and doomscrolling, this alternate web space is a real treat. There’s also the likelihood that you might find it challenging to locate enough interesting or useful sites in the beginning. Once you’ve curated a collection of Gemini sites, you’ll find it an absolute pleasure to use.

And if you’re interested in setting up your own Gemini site, you can find a list of available servers to use on the Awesome Gemini GitHub page.

I can’t guarantee that you’ll make Lagrange your new default browser. I can, however, say with confidence that you’ll find exploring Lagrange and Gemini sites to be a lot of fun.