This is a fictitious earlier version of the 404 → 302 web site.
It is a contrived example of how we can fundamentally alter web sites (different web or application server, different technology stack, different URL structure, etc.) without contributing to link rot and without breaking the Web.
If a link is not found (404) on 4042302.org, the request is forwarded to this site.
If the link is found here, it is displayed.
If the link is not found here, it is forwarded to the copy of my first Geocities web site that I downloaded from The Internet Archive using Wayback Machine Downloader.
If the link is found there, it is displayed. For example, try this relative link, which doesn’t exist here but did on my web page from 1997: /stuff.htm.
If the link is not found there, we reach the end of the chain and see a 404 page. For example, try this relative link, which doesn’t exist here or on my web page from 1997: /missing.html.
The nginx configuration on this site to implement the 404 → 302 redirect is:
server {
# …
location / {
error_page 404 =302 https://1997.4042302.org$request_uri;
try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}
}