Minimizing Computing Maximizes Labor

This paper focuses on the practical realities of implementing the most common minimal computing methods for web development. It addresses the amount of technically-oriented detail-work required to configure the complex set of components that underpin widely-used platforms for static site generation. When going minimal requires a great deal of technical labor, what implications does that have for its adoption by scholars without ongoing technical support, or the money or connections to delegate that work? What is the added emotional labor for technical collaborators who are only allowed to consult with scholars, when they attempt to coach scholars through implementing a minimal computing site on their own? What opportunities are lost when a web development methodology cannot reasonably be taught in a hands-on way in a short workshop? After describing these challenges, this paper proposes that an infrastructural intervention — encompassing everything from writing better documentation, tutorials, and templates, to developing interfaces that mediate between users and technical complexity — is necessary to realize the potential of minimal computing as a framework for sustainable websites.