2021-10-23
We had a very serious (read: not at all serious) discussion in the gemini IRC channel about the need for a payment system in geminispace. Something that allows you to donate money to creators, for example.
It needs to be decentralized. Anonymous. Simple. Not some stupid cryptocurrency.
After several minutes of arguments and painstaking compromises we (kensanata and I) reached a consensus. The currency units should be called Gems. Or Gemcoins. We weren't entirely clear on that, but I think we settled for Gems. I made the first implementation of a donation backend, which you are more than welcome to try if you feel like giving me some Gems:
Donate Gems to my gemlog! (Obviously doesn't work on the blog. Duh.)
Immediately after my implementation the standards group had a falling out, and kensanata forked the entire currency system:
gemini://transjovian.org/do/coins
My solution is objectively better, but you're allowed to be wrong.
For reference, here is my solution:
#!/bin/bash
re='^[0-9]+$'
if [[ -n ${QUERY_STRING} && ${QUERY_STRING} =~ ${re} ]] ; then
printf "20 text/gemini\r\nYou've donated 💎${QUERY_STRING} to ew0k.\nYour account balance is now 💎$(( RANDOM % 100 + 1 ))"
else
printf "10 How many Gems would you like to donate?\r\n"
fi
-- CC0 Björn Wärmedal