"The web doesn't belong just to software engineers. The more we make the web complex, the more we push normal users into the enclosures that we like to call social networks."
Folder with markdown or plaintext files and an ssh client for uploading new ones - can’t go simpler. A basic index.html written by that techie friend can then present it in a nicely readable form with a surprisingly little JavaScript.
But then that’s not what you really want. Every really simple solution I stumbled upon over the years died due to the lack of interest.