Will Castnerhttps://willcastner.com/2026-08-10T00:00:00+00:00How this site is builthttps://willcastner.com/writing/colophon/2026-08-10T00:00:00+00:00<p>This site is about as simple as a site can be while still being pleasant to write for.</p>
<p>There is one Python file. It reads markdown out of <code>posts/</code>, wraps it in a single HTML template, and writes plain files into <code>docs/</code>. GitHub Pages serves that directory. There is no package manager, no <code>node_modules</code>, no framework, and nothing to upgrade. The whole thing runs on the Python that ships with macOS.</p>
<p>Writing a post is three steps:</p>
<pre><code>python3 build.py --new "Post title"
# edit the file it prints, delete the draft: line
python3 build.py
git add -A && git commit -m "new post" && git push</code></pre>
<p>Pages goes live a minute or so later.</p>
<h2>Why not a static site generator</h2>
<p>Because the interesting part of a blog is the writing, and every generator I've used eventually asks for more attention than the writing does — a config format to learn, a theme to fight, a dependency tree that rots. The markdown support here is a deliberate subset: headings, lists, links, emphasis, code, blockquotes, images, rules. That covers essentially everything I'd actually write, and when it doesn't, a raw HTML block passes straight through untouched.</p>
<p>The tradeoff is real and I'm making it on purpose. If I ever need footnotes or syntax highlighting badly enough, they're each a small function in the one file I already own.</p>
<h2>What's here</h2>
<p>Mostly notes about operations work at a research company, and the small tools I keep writing to avoid doing things twice. Nothing on a schedule.</p>