| • Zach Leatherman introduces himself as the creator and maintainer of 11ty, a static site generator | |
| • Discussion about intro taglines, with Jerod Santo teasing Nick Nisi's ability to create effective ones | |
| • Brief overview of NEJS Conf, a regional conference co-organized by Jerod, Nick, and Zach in Nebraska | |
| • Zach discusses the recent announcement that he needs help making 11ty fully independent and sustainable | |
| • Explanation of 11ty as a static site generator with simple on-ramp for beginners and focus on build performance | |
| • Discussion about the project's history, including its development at Netlify and CloudCannon, and current fundraising goals to achieve independence | |
| • Zach explains that he needs to figure out how to sustain the project, but has a runway of contributions built up and is exploring options with his community | |
| • The 11ty community has both businesses and individuals using the framework | |
| • There's a mix of free and paid contributions to the project | |
| • Zach Leatherman discusses the challenges of maintaining an open-source project while seeking funding | |
| • He mentions the example of Gatsby, which took venture capital funding but eventually lost customer trust due to prioritizing services over core tool development | |
| • The conversation touches on the balance between open source incentives and financial motivations in creating a successful business model for 11ty | |
| • Zach Leatherman reflects on his past experience with Netlify sponsorship, stating that some features were built due to external pressures rather than community needs | |
| • He emphasizes the importance of staying independent and making decisions based on community feedback and long-term benefit | |
| • Discussion of NoJS, its origins, and its relation to progressive enhancement | |
| • Zach Leatherman's views on TypeScript, including his wish for it to be a first-party part of the platform | |
| • Comparison of different JavaScript runtimes (Node.js, Deno, Bun) and their compatibility with standards-based features | |
| • The need for a governing body or standards organization for server-side JavaScript | |
| • Concerns about the "server wars" and potential stagnation in the JavaScript ecosystem | |
| • Discussion of innovation and progress in the industry, including Node.js's recent shipping of new features | |
| • Zach Leatherman's preference for no TypeScript (.ts) in his code | |
| • Web Components development by Zach Leatherman | |
| • Publishing reusable Web Components on npm | |
| • Design-free and structural components for maximum reusability | |
| • Examples of Zach's Web Components: is-land (lazy-loader), Squirminal (progressively-rendered content animator) | |
| • Zach's humorous approach to tech, including fake live-coding demos with animated typing effect | |
| • Repackaging older projects as custom elements, such as Flex Luthor and Seven Minute Tabs | |
| • Web 3.0 and its origins | |
| • Satire becoming reality with Google's AI-based summaries | |
| • AI-generated advice for healthy lifestyles (eating rocks) | |
| • The limitations and risks of relying on AI models | |
| • Data governance and the use of LLMs in documentation and maintenance | |
| • The impact of AI on user experience and SEO | |
| • The tension between personal opt-out and being a tool provider in an AI-driven world | |
| • ChatGPT limitations when working with niche languages or tools | |
| • Difficulty of providing high-quality results for specific domains or technologies | |
| • Importance of optimizing tool interactions with popular tools like Copilot and 11ty | |
| • Potential solutions such as creating plugins or integrations to improve performance | |
| • Trade-offs between creating content for algorithms vs. making genuine connections with people | |
| • Value of building community through in-depth conversations rather than shallow engagement | |
| • Discussion about web components and their potential for reuse | |
| • Reference to "seven-minute abs" and its relation to a movie quote | |
| • Introduction of the "snowfall" web component by Zach Leatherman | |
| • Explanation of how to use and install the snowfall component in an Astro site | |
| • Discussion on progressive enhancement strategies for web components, especially when JavaScript is unavailable | |
| • The challenges of balancing user experience (UX) and developer experience (DX) in web development | |
| • The "curse of knowledge" where complex solutions can be intimidating for developers without extensive experience | |
| • The importance of considering the UX when designing tools and components, rather than solely focusing on DX | |
| • The emergence of new tools like 11ty and Astro that are making it easier to build websites with minimal JavaScript or no bundle at all | |
| • Zach Leatherman's experience organizing the 11ty Conf online conference, which had a successful turnout despite initial reluctance due to past negative experiences | |
| • The use of online streaming tools and live captioning services to make the conference more accessible | |
| • Plans to repeat CloudCannon conference next year | |
| • Discussion of virtual event swag and shipping logistics | |
| • Zach Leatherman handled swag sales and fulfillment in-house with family assistance | |
| • Review of past conferences held at unique locations (zoo, train station, cathedral/temple, etc.) | |
| • Discussion of sponsorship communication for future events | |
| • Recap of fundraising efforts and momentum built by the conference | |
| • The group discusses a mysterious project that appears to be an early version of 11ty | |
| • It's revealed to actually be Jekyll, not 11ty | |
| • Zach Leatherman asks listeners to support 11ty with recurring contributions on Open Collective or GitHub Sponsors | |
| • The goal is to reach 6,000 recurring monthly contributors for financial sustainability | |
| • Zach encourages experimenters to try out 11ty and provide feedback | |
| • The group discusses the importance of supporting independent open source creators |