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+#+TITLE: How This Blog Is Set Up
+#+DATE: 2020-06-17T21:03:26-04:00
+#+DRAFT: true
+#+DESCRIPTION:
+#+TAGS[]: hugo openbsd emacs
+#+KEYWORDS[]:
+#+SLUG:
+#+SUMMARY:
+
+When I was thinking about making this blog, there were a couple of
+factors I kept in mind when I was trying to figure out how I was going
+to set it up. Here's a simplified list of that:
+
+- Simple
+- Version controlled
+- Runs on OpenBSD
+- Minimal maintenance
+- Good integration with Emacs
+
+That's how I came up with what I currently use. Let me walk you
+through how I run by blog.
+
+* Framework
+
+  The blog engine is [[https://gohugo.io/][hugo]], a static site generator. I chose this over
+  something dynamic like wordpress for several reasons.
+
+  First of all, it's very easy to manage, blog posts are just simple
+  files written in one of the markup languages hugo supports. Being
+  statically generated is also a massive advantage in terms of
+  maintenance. With something like wordpress, you have to be careful to
+  keep your site and plugins up to date.
+
+  Since there's no dynamic content generation or database involved with
+  hugo, the attack surface is dramatically decreased. No possibility for
+  SQL injection, PHP RATs, accidental shell access, or hacked
+  credentials. The entire site is generated using a single command after
+  a new post is created, and then moved to the web server's root
+  directory.
+
+  Being all flat files also means the entire thing can very easily be
+  tracked using =git= (or maybe [[https://gameoftrees.org/][got]], eventually), in fact that's the
+  recommended way to use hugo. There's no fear I'll accidentally delete
+  something, as I can always go back to a previous commit and restore
+  it.
+
+  Since hugo is written in go, it's trivial to compile on OpenBSD, and
+  is actually available directly from the OpenBSD package manager right
+  out of the gate.
+
+  Maybe the most important thing to be however, is that hugo natively
+  supports org-mode markup. I write all my notes, both personal and work
+  related, in org-mode. It makes converting my notes into blog posts
+  really easy. It also lets me leverage my existing Emacs setup, which
+  comes in handy often. While it's not very well documented, since
+  org-mode markup is a bit of a second class citizen in the hugo world,
+  it's pretty easy to figure out.
+
+* Version Control
+
+  I wanted to try to keep things as simple as possible for this, while
+  remaining private.