I have quickly switched my blog from WriteFreely to a custom development: MD-Blog (the MD stands for Markdown, of course). The trigger was a failed update of the old system – but in the end, it was the perfect incentive to radically simplify everything and gain full control over the design.
The core consists of simple Markdown files in the data/ folder, which are converted into modern HTML at runtime. The result is lightning fast, works without a database, and thanks to its own design system (including dark mode), it now looks exactly as I imagined. Even a modern Mastodon share button is now directly on board.
If you are interested in the code or the lean setup, feel free to get in touch with me via Mastodon!
Actually, the idea behind #Winboat is excellent, but the implementation currently seems a bit unstable. Since the installation at the beginning of the year, the system was running, but today the software completely stopped working.
The image suddenly reported insufficient memory (RAM). I tried to fix the problem manually, which unfortunately made the system permanently unusable. Instead of investing more time in troubleshooting, I switched directly to the Dockurr Windows image – which is the technical basis of Winboat anyway.
1. Preparation
Since I use Podman, I first created the necessary directories on my host system. This ensures data integrity if the container needs to be recreated:
mkdir -p $HOME/Windows/System
mkdir -p $HOME/Windows/Shared
2. The Start Command
Important note: Replace the placeholders in the variables -e USERNAME and -e PASSWORD with your personal credentials.
podman run -d \
--name windows \
-p 8006:
I've set up my own blog — primarily to get to know #NixOS better. Surprisingly, the whole process was quite straightforward.
WriteFreely is a great fit for this: minimalist, quick to set up, and without much bloat. It's perfect for just getting started and learning a bit on the side. The configuration is pleasantly clear. Set a few options, prepare the directory, put a reverse proxy in front — and you're done.
This is what my current NixOS configuration for it looks like:
{ config, pkgs, ... }:
{
services.writefreely = {
enable = true;
host = "blog.burningboard.org";
settings = {
server = {
port = 8080;
min_log_level = "debug";
};
app = {
host = "https://blog.burningboard.org";
single_user = true;
landing = "/read";
wf_modesty = true;
federation = true;
public_stats = true;
theme = "write
