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Show HN: Obsidian – A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files

obsidian.md

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Re: Show HN: Obsidian – A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files

#11
I did a first look run-through of Obsidian on YouTube if anyone would find it helpful. It's a top-of-the-list recommendation for personal knowledge management software in my book. Kind, helpful community around the software too.

Video: https://youtu.be/cFYaWC_86W0

Re: Show HN: Obsidian – A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files

#13
For me the biggest benefit of Obsidian over several other PKM tools is that it uses local Markdown files rather than outlines/blocks. It still has bi-directional linking, and bubbles up unlinked resources like Roam. The pace and responsiveness of the developers is remarkable, and the community has been so friendly and helpful. No egos!

[editing to add that I'm using iCloud for my vaults which allows for very fast syncing and the ability to edit on iOS]

Re: Show HN: Obsidian – A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files

#14
It looks like this isn't open source. If this is supposed to be one's second brain, please at least consider using a time-bomb FOSS license. Something like: you're permitted to use Obsidian under Apache/MIT/GPL license either 7 years after a given release, or effective immediately in the event that Obsidian shuts down.

Re: Show HN: Obsidian – A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files

#15
post #14

It looks like this isn't open source. If this is supposed to be one's second brain, please at least consider using a time-bomb FOSS license. Something like: you're permitted to use Obsidian under Apache/MIT/GPL license either 7 years after a given release, or effective immediately in the event that Obsidian shuts down.

That's an interesting idea and we'll look into it!

We plan to stay in business in the long run, but if things do go wrong and we shut down, we do intend to open source the app.

Re: Show HN: Obsidian – A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files

#17

This app has changed the way I take notes - markdown, local files, wiki-style [[backlinking]], and Latex support has made it fun to build a personal knowledge base. I never liked the hierarchical structure of most note taking systems, and backlinking just lets you write - you navigate the network structure later (you can also still use a hierarchy on top of the network structure if that's your thing). Highly recommen…

I've had a lot of success with even less organization -- writing one giant append-only markdown file per project. Search for the thing you want and it usually comes up. Notes have a timestamp and they're in order, so it's not hard to determine whether they're still relevant.

Re: Show HN: Obsidian – A knowledge base that works on local Markdown files

#19
post #14

It looks like this isn't open source. If this is supposed to be one's second brain, please at least consider using a time-bomb FOSS license. Something like: you're permitted to use Obsidian under Apache/MIT/GPL license either 7 years after a given release, or effective immediately in the event that Obsidian shuts down.

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