What Is Exa's Corner?

Updated

Exa's Corner (exa.y2k.diy) is the personal website of Exa, a group describing themselves as Java developers and *n{x,i,u}x sysadmins since 2009. It is best understood as a "digital garden": a low-friction place to publish random notes, small tools, and old blog posts without worrying about deployment, revisions, or standards. The site is primarily known for Minecraft mods, but it also covers community hosting and open-source projects.

Who runs it and what they do

The site's own introduction gives the clearest picture of the operators:

  • Background: Java development and Linux/BSD system administration, with daily Linux/BSD use since 2013 and server use since 2009.
  • Known for: Minecraft mods, distributed through Modrinth and CurseForge.
  • Community work: Hosting and overseeing the Sleeping Town community, plus the Jortage hosting project.
  • Funding model: They describe writing open-source code and running free online services full-time, and ask for contributions through Helcim (card/ACH, listed as preferred), Patreon, Liberapay, or PayPal. These are donation options, not stated prices for any product.

What you'll find on the site

The homepage links out to a mix of projects and channels rather than a curated portfolio. The site itself admits this: a TODO note on the page says an actual project listing still needs to be written, "not just the random orphaned shit."

Tools and small projects

Project What it is
GPIO pinout diagrams Reference diagrams for uncommon single-board computers, plus Raspberry Pi ones
Colorspace toy A small interactive color tool
SCP-style laptop sticker generator Generates sticker designs in the SCP format
Pie-chart SVGs SVG pie-chart output
Welon A web-based clone of Suika Game
Server status Powered by Uptime Kuma
Drasl instance A self-hosted alternative Minecraft authentication server

Writing and the "garden"

Below the project links is a document listing of garden pages and old blog posts. The page describes the collection as "a bit of a mess," and says that is intentional. Visible entries include:

  • Migrating Git repos to SHA-256 — flagged on the page as "so extremely underdocumented!!"
  • JVM Arguments — subtitled "Say no to snake oil"
  • Djot — described as "Markdown but it isn'[t]" (text truncated on the page)

The listing has a built-in reading aid: with JavaScript enabled, you can show stars next to entries you haven't read or that have been updated since your last visit. The site also hot-reloads when pages change, so content may shift while you are reading it.

Where to follow or discuss

The page lists a bridged community (the same discussion reachable from either platform):

  • Matrix Space
  • Discord Guild

Other presence includes Mastodon, Forgejo (including source code), Modrinth, CurseForge, PeerTube, GitHub, Codeberg, Twitch, YouTube, Bluesky, and Tumblr. For direct contact, email is described as reliable but not fast; Matrix is listed as the main chat.

When this site is useful to you

Exa's Corner is worth a look if you want practical notes from long-time Java and Unix/BSD practitioners — particularly the Git SHA-256 migration write-up or the JVM arguments piece — or if you play Minecraft and want to find their mods. If you need a structured project portfolio or official documentation, this is not that kind of site; the operators say so themselves.