Comment by tjoff
11 hours ago
Finding an HTTP+FTP server was easier than finding github. Your OS probably has a FTP client installed already, but finding another one is easier than finding and most definitely easier than learning git.
And if you already knew how to write/make HTML you'd for sure already know all of that too.
This is definitely a matter of perspective. I have had a Github account since 2010, and git comes installed on Linux and macOS.
I don't always have a server available to host an HTTP+FTP server on. Or want to pay for one, or spend time setting one up. I can trust that Github Pages will have reasonable uptime, and I won't have to monitor it at all.
> And if you already knew how to write/make HTML you'd for sure already know all of that too.
This seems unnecessarily aggressive, and I don't really understand where it's coming from.
BTW, you can absolutely host plain HTML with Github Pages. No SSG required.
> And if you already knew how to write/make HTML you'd for sure already know all of that too.
That's a completely false statement. My kid took very basic programming classes in school which covered HTML so they could build webpages, which is a fantastic instant-results method. Hooray, now the class is finished, he wants to put it on the web. Just like millions of other kids who couldn't even spell FTP.
> Finding an HTTP+FTP server was easier than finding github.
No it wasn't. Seriously, where?
There was a lot of sites that provided some cpanel-like option as long as you're ok with yourcoolname.weirdhostingname.com. I believe they all came with a filebrowser and the always present public_html folder.
There was geocities (now gone) and a couple of *.tk domains that would inject their ads all over your page. Neither makes a great substitute for GitHub pages these days.
I touched on the issues with FTP itself in another comment, but who can forget the issues with HTTP+FTP, like: modes (644 or 755? wait, what is a umask?), .htaccess, MIME mappings, "why isn't index.html working?", etc. Every place had a different httpd config and a different person you had to email to (hopefully) get it fixed.