upd

content/project/2025-05-15-zola/index.md

@@ -1,23 +1,48 @@
 +++
-title = "einszwovier: making of"
+title = "zola - a switch to rust"
 date = 2025-05-16
 authors = ["Aron Petau", "Friedrich Weber"]
-description = "The story of our new Makerspace: studio einszwovier"
+description = "revamping my website, futureproofing"
+draft = true
 
 [taxonomies]
 tags = [
-  "making",
-  "education",
-  "democratic",
-  "engineering",
+  "rust",
+  "programming",
+  "static site generator",
+  "blogging",
+  "hosting",
   "experiment",
-  "work",
-  "3D printing",
+  "private",
 ]
 [extra]
-banner = "eins zwo vier logo.png"
 show_copyright = true
 show_shares = true
-featured = true
-draft = true
+featured = false
 +++
+
+For years, Jekyll was my go-to for building static websites. It was familiar, widely supported, and part of the broader Ruby ecosystem. But over time, my frustrations grew—slow builds, complicated plugin setups, and a dependency stack that never felt quite right. Recently, I made the leap to **Zola**, a Rust-powered static site generator, and I don't see myself going back.
+
+## Rust Feels Right
+
+I’ve always admired Rust for its speed, safety, and modern tooling. Using a static site generator built with Rust just made sense. **Zola is fast**—blazing fast. Even during local development, rebuilds are near-instant, and that alone makes the writing process smoother and more enjoyable.
+
+Plus, using something written in Rust means fewer external dependencies, no bundler hell, and zero Ruby setup headaches. I can just download the binary, run it, and get going. It respects my time.
+
+## Zola Is Thoughtfully Designed
+
+Beyond performance, Zola is simply well-designed. Its template syntax (thanks to Tera) is more powerful and readable than Liquid. The built-in shortcodes, pagination, and asset pipelines all feel cohesive and purposeful. There’s very little “configuration over convention” fatigue that Jekyll often gave me.
+
+And even though both systems are Markdown-based, migrating wasn't just a matter of copy-pasting files. I had to rethink frontmatter, adjust templates, and wrangle image paths and shortcodes. The structure and behavior are different enough that it felt like a real rebuild—not just a port.
+
+## Duckquill Made me switch
+
+The real catalyst, though? **Duckquill**, a stunning Zola theme built by [Daudix](https://github.com/daudix). It struck the perfect balance between minimalism and elegance—exactly the aesthetic I wanted but could never quite achieve with Jekyll. Duckquill didn’t just make Zola usable for me; it made it *irresistible*.
+
+What really sets **Duckquill** apart—beyond its clean typography and smart layout—is how well it supports a vision of digital autonomy. The theme comes with **Mastodon-powered comments**, allowing for lightweight, federated interaction without relying on big centralized platforms. This fits perfectly with my goal of reclaiming control through **self-hosting**. Whether it's running my own site, owning my content, or interacting through the fediverse, Duckquill reinforces those values rather than working against them. It’s a rare example of design and infrastructure aligning with personal principles.
+
+## Final Thoughts
+
+Switching from Jekyll to Zola wasn’t effortless, but it was absolutely worth it. I now have a faster, more reliable, and better-looking site that’s easier to maintain and feels like it fits my tooling philosophy.
+
+If you're feeling the weight of your current setup, maybe it's time to try Zola—and give Duckquill a spin while you're at it.