A website from over 20 years ago is preserved in a folder of text files

While looking for something else, I came across a folder on my Mac called “free for X”. In it were a bunch of plain text HTML files which together made up a Mac freeware website that was the predecessor to thriftmac. So I uploaded it to a server, opened the home page and sure enough there it was — an entire website from over 20 years ago still fully functional. The links to outside websites mostly don’t work, but that’s on them. So, yes, proof that plain text not tied to an app does stand the test of time. This is especially true if you keep the files safe and sound on your own computer. Looking back on it, the main thing I would have done differently today would be to use server-side includes for the head section and the navigation. On the other hand, I was using BBEdit, which has multi-file search and replace, so I might have been content with that method. I don’t think I knew about Emmet back then, but it definitely would have come in handy for marking up lists and paragraphs. I…