whatisgithub

What is blog?

rougier/blog — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2021-03-30

14Audience · writerComplexity · 1/5DormantSetup · easy

In one sentence

A minimalist personal blog hosted entirely on GitHub, using markdown files, issues, and labels instead of a blog engine.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((blog))
    What it does
      Personal blog
      Hosted on GitHub
      No blog engine
    Tech stack
      Markdown
      GitHub Issues
      GitHub Labels
    Use cases
      Publish posts fast
      Get comments via issues
      Avoid hosting overhead
    Audience
      Researchers
      Engineers
      GitHub-native writers

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Publish technical blog posts as markdown files without setting up a blog engine.

USE CASE 2

Let readers comment on posts using GitHub issues instead of a comment system.

USE CASE 3

Organize topics with GitHub issue labels instead of tags or categories.

USE CASE 4

Set up a lightweight, version-controlled blog in minutes for a GitHub-native audience.

What is it built with?

MarkdownGitHub

How does it compare?

rougier/blog0c33/agentic-ai0xbebis/hyperpay
Stars141414
LanguagePythonTypeScript
Last pushed2021-03-30
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultyeasyhardhard
Complexity1/54/55/5
Audiencewriterdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

No automatic post discovery or feed generation, readers must know where to find it.

No license information is provided in the explanation.

So what is it?

This is a personal blog hosted directly on GitHub, created by Nicolas Rougier, a neuroscience researcher in Bordeaux. Instead of setting up a traditional blogging platform or website, Rougier uses GitHub's built-in features, README files, issues, and labels, to publish and organize posts. It's a minimalist approach that avoids the overhead of managing a separate blog engine. The way it works is straightforward: blog posts are written as markdown files in the repository, linked from the main README. Readers can engage with posts by opening GitHub issues for comments, and topics are organized using issue labels like "GITHUB" or "HACK." There's no automation or complex machinery behind it, it's just using GitHub's existing tools in a clever way. The setup trades a bit of manual work for total simplicity and the advantage of keeping everything version-controlled and on a platform most developers already use. This approach appeals to people who want to share their thoughts or technical knowledge without friction. A researcher, engineer, or hobbyist can host a blog this way in minutes: create a repo, write posts in markdown, and let GitHub handle hosting and comments. It's particularly practical for people already living in GitHub for their projects and who don't need fancy themes, analytics, or media-rich layouts. The tradeoff is that this isn't a fully-featured blogging system. There's no automatic post discovery, no feed generation, and readers have to know where to find the blog. But for someone writing occasional posts on technical topics for an audience comfortable with GitHub, that simplicity is actually the point, no distractions, no maintenance burden, just writing and community feedback through issues.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Help me set up a GitHub-hosted blog like this one using markdown and issues.
Prompt 2
Show me how to organize blog topics with GitHub issue labels the way this repo does.
Prompt 3
Walk me through linking new markdown posts from the main README.
Prompt 4
What are the tradeoffs of using GitHub issues for blog comments instead of a real comment system?

Frequently asked questions

What is blog?

A minimalist personal blog hosted entirely on GitHub, using markdown files, issues, and labels instead of a blog engine.

Is blog actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2021-03-30).

What license does blog use?

No license information is provided in the explanation.

How hard is blog to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is blog for?

Mainly writer.

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