Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 377 posts

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#101

Post by KetoManx64 »

Kovah wrote: post #78

> Only necessary features, restrictions foster creativity Interesting. Productivity tools should not force me getting creative to do the simplest things. Ideally, I can make it adapt to my workflow, not the other way around.

That's why Obsidian is as popular as it is. It starts with a foundation of features that are necessary, and then lets you add/create extensions to expand it as your creativity desires.

That line above is just an attempt to convince the user that the lack of features/extensibility is a positive thing.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#102

Post by bachmeier »

himata4113 wrote: post #14

This made me realize that obsidian is *not* opensource, but in a way obsidian made me feel like it was opensource. Obviously now that I researched it, it is quite obvious that it is not, but still it 'feels' like it should be opensource.

The data is open and stored in markdown format. Plugins are open source. The core product is not open source, but it's also just an electron app. I've always viewed Obsidian as the inverse of an open core product.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#103

Post by bachmeier »

jlos wrote: post #96

So you saw a product that (1) gives you complete control of your data (2) uses an open format (3) only charges for sync, publish, and commercial use, and you thought to yourself: "What a great use of my time building a competitor that adds no value, just to save a few dollars a month on sync and publishing. I hope other people value their time as little as I do and contribute" Have fun!

But Obsidian doesn't even require a few dollars a month for sync. You can use Github or whatever sync service you want. Your data is just a directory of markdown files. That said, I've paid for the sync service for years, but only because it works really well on Linux. I've always been impressed with Obsidian's first-class Linux offerings.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#104

Post by smokel »

Interesting. I recently "vibe-coded" my personal Obsidian clone, because I want proper Emacs keybindings, and Obsidian does not support those, not even through extensions.

I do not know what to do with my pet project. I'm using it myself, and it has tons of futures that took quite some effort to get right. For example, WYSIWYG table editing is not trivial, and Claude Opus agrees with me, in the sense that it could not manage it (at all) by itself.

Open-sourcing it is an option, but I don't look forward to negative feedback. If anyone else wants Emacs keybindings in Obsidian, I will change my mind :)

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#106

Post by jlos »

embedding-shape wrote: post #98
jlos wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should it be opensource? Obsidian gives you complete control of your data, which it stores in an open standard. Please explain to me why developers should act like monks who've taken a vow of poverty? The devs built something valuable, they should profit from it.

Wait, why are you mixing the two? You can have the software be under an open source license, yet still not be a monk that has taken a vow of poverty, it's not black and white. AFAIK (as a long-term Obsidian daily user) Obsidian makes their money on various things attached to the editor/viewer itself, but don't actually charge for the editor/viewer. Even if they did, they could still slap a FOSS license on it, and con…

I'm mixing the two because I think developers should value their time and profit from the value they add. I want them to build viable businesses so they get wealthy from their efforts and can continue keeping useful products alive.

There's no value to their business to open sourcing the product. Open source risks losing customers to knock-off competitors or fragmenting their plugin ecoystem (which is a lot of Obsidians moat).

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#108

Post by embedding-shape »

gbro3n wrote: post #90
jlos wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should it be opensource? Obsidian gives you complete control of your data, which it stores in an open standard. Please explain to me why developers should act like monks who've taken a vow of poverty? The devs built something valuable, they should profit from it.

I think there is a special value in open source when it comes to a personal knowlege base. We invest so much time in it, and we need to know that it's not going to be taken away from us, or made unaffordable. I made https://www.asnotes.io (basically obsidian with markdown and nested wikilinking in a VS Code extension), because I wanted and thought others would want something that is a) open source and b) version cont…

> We invest so much time in it, and we need to know that it's not going to be taken away from us

Agreed, but in the case of Obsidian, since the way they manage the data, they cannot just "take it away from us", it'll always sit where you leave it, as it's not a SaaS or a remote service. And even if the desktop client went away, all your data and notes are still available.

Otherwise I generally agree with you, all my professional and personal tooling shouldn't be able to take away agency from me, but it's worth separate the tooling from the data, as loosing the tooling sucks but loosing the data is a lot worse, at least they cannot do that.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#109

Post by gbro3n »

zakirullin wrote: post #16
himata4113 wrote: post #14

This made me realize that obsidian is *not* opensource, but in a way obsidian made me feel like it was opensource. Obviously now that I researched it, it is quite obvious that it is not, but still it 'feels' like it should be opensource.

That was the reason a few years ago I started this project. It seems like software in AI-era should be distributed open source. So that anyone could tweak it however he wants. Not though clunky plugins system.

Congratulations on making it tonthe front page. I think your app looks like a brilliant notes app implementation, and there's obviously demand. When I launched https://www.asnotes.io earlier this year (An extension that turns VS Code in to an Obsidian like PKMS) it made the number 4 spot. It's clearly something that people see as important and draws a lot of opinions. I hope your project does well.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#110

Post by jlos »

gbro3n wrote: post #90
jlos wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should it be opensource? Obsidian gives you complete control of your data, which it stores in an open standard. Please explain to me why developers should act like monks who've taken a vow of poverty? The devs built something valuable, they should profit from it.

I think there is a special value in open source when it comes to a personal knowlege base. We invest so much time in it, and we need to know that it's not going to be taken away from us, or made unaffordable. I made https://www.asnotes.io (basically obsidian with markdown and nested wikilinking in a VS Code extension), because I wanted and thought others would want something that is a) open source and b) version cont…

Agree wholeheartedly, but you already have that with Obsidian. You own the vault, and if you don't want obsidian, its already in markdown.
Post reply on HN