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Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

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Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#151

Post by andrewmutz »

kepano wrote: post #34

Obsidian Canvas uses a new JSON-based file format that we have open-sourced under MIT license. You can see the spec here: https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api/blob/master/canva... Just like all other files in Obsidian, canvas files are your own and local to your device. You're still linking to your own Markdown files which are just as future-proof as ever. We decided to create the .canvas format because there w…

I can't use this for work unless I pay $50 per year, is that right?

If I sign up for the Sync or Publish plans, do I still need to pay $50 per year to use it at work? Or is that included?

Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#152

Post by eblanshey »

raybb wrote: post #18

One thing that's really missing for me from Obsidian is a view similar to that of Google Keep. Like sometimes I want to drop a small note "my stuff is in locker 2130" or "Look into Open Library WikiData linking percentage" and then easily be able to see it again in a few of all notes most recent. A thread on Reddit give me a small hope this update may do that but I don't think so. PS: I'm aware of the daily notes vie…

Drop these quick notes into a folder (can be automated with Templater). Create another note that uses the DataView plugin to show you a table of all the files in this folder sorted by the creation date.

Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#153

Post by potas »

arcturus17 wrote: post #148

I'm going off on a tangent, but while we have you markdown geeks here: does anyone have any experience editing it with Vim? Do you recommend any plugins or similar? The only real problem I have with markdown is that if I have editor soft-wraps, Vim doesn't work that well (I can't properly navigate soft-wrap lines, because there is a mismatch between what I see and what the editor understands as a line). If I do hard-…

You can always use `gj`/`gk` instead of `j`/`k` to move down/up a visual (soft-wrapped) line. If you find it inconvenient, you can always remap bindings to work however you like [0]. You can even limit the mapping to specific file type (e.g. markdown).

As for copying to other formats, I stick to 80-character line length limit, so when I need to copy markdown text somewhere else I simply copy it from a rendered markdown document.

[0] https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Move_cursor_by_display_lines_whe...

Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#155

Post by blensor »

LordDragonfang wrote: post #145
afturner wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The local first approach is the primary reason I use Obsidian. I trust that I can _depend_ on Obsidian because of this. On the other hand, this has also caused some headaches around using it on mobile.. but so far this has been a worthwhile tradeoff. Thanks for all the hard work!

Some options for syncing on mobile: Obsidian sells a first party syncing solution, which I hear works well: https://obsidian.md/sync I do git syncing on Android via termux (It works most of the time, except when git decides to shit itself every now and then on my tablet): https://forum.obsidian.md/t/guide-using-git-to-sync-your-obs... I can't vouch for it because I don't have any iOS devices new enough to support it,…

I went for the paid syncing because I want it to "just work" while still having the futureproof way of storing the data locally in an accessible way.

So far it has worked absolutely flawless. If I change a file it's changing on my connected device in seconds. Not exactly like working on a shared google doc but close enough that I would even use it as a hack to quickly share links between my mobile and my desktop

Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#156

Post by bachmeier »

afturner wrote: post #90
kepano wrote: post #34

Obsidian Canvas uses a new JSON-based file format that we have open-sourced under MIT license. You can see the spec here: https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api/blob/master/canva... Just like all other files in Obsidian, canvas files are your own and local to your device. You're still linking to your own Markdown files which are just as future-proof as ever. We decided to create the .canvas format because there w…

The local first approach is the primary reason I use Obsidian. I trust that I can _depend_ on Obsidian because of this. On the other hand, this has also caused some headaches around using it on mobile.. but so far this has been a worthwhile tradeoff. Thanks for all the hard work!

Obsidian Sync is by no means cheap, but I've never used a better syncing service. I'm on my second year and can't think of a single issue I've had across laptops, desktops, an Android phone, and a Chromebook.

Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#157

Post by ulnarkressty »

This kind of feature would obviously not be able to be implemented into a (easily readable) markdown file, so, as Obsidian is willing to go to the proprietary open format route, could someone please consider adding usable tables as a feature? Even simple stuff like multiline cells would greatly increase the usability of the tool. The current table experience even with the community plugins is... not ideal.

Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#158

Post by awill »

slymon99 wrote: post #107
danbruc wrote: post #106

Marginally related rant. Why on earth is the macOS download a 153 MiB ZIP file that expands into 363 MiB of stuff? Why does every Electron app have to come with its own copy of Electron? I miss the times when Windows came on seven 1.44 MB floppies and you did not even need all of them because they mostly contain drivers for hardware you didn't have. Actually I don't miss the time, swapping floppies was annoying. But…

> But really, is the amount of space, bandwidth and clock cycles we carelessly waste really justified by the gain in productivity and achievable complexity? Yes. Space, bandwidth, CPU cycles are cheap, especially for this sort of application. Developers are expensive.

Sure, as a smaller company, this makes sense. And if they stay small, and want to minimize cost, fine. If they target tech-people, again, fine. But in my view, mass adoption really requires better UX/perf.

Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#159

Post by sleight42 »

I've been concerned about Obsidian sync. IIRC, data goes to AWS servers but where does it go from there?

From reading the Obsidian website, they seem a tiny company. However, it is unclear where they are based and, therefore, what legal obligations they are operating under. What more, Obsidian has so far avoided the levels of compliance that allows for adoption by big businesses.

I love me some Obsidian but I'm mindful that, using their services, I just don't know how my data is being treated.

I realize vaults are encrypted locally. However, do we know that our vault secret isn't shared with Obsidian? Sure, it's (mostly?) an Electron app. But just how transparent and accountable is Obsidian about their operations?

Re: Show HN: Obsidian Canvas – An infinite space for your ideas

#160

Post by kepano »

s1mon wrote: post #136

As evidenced by a link to AlternativeTo on their own site, this space has a lot (145+) of competition [0]. At some level, I worry about using things much more complex than a text file, because of portability and longevity. It's enough of a pain transitioning between Google and Microsoft (and back) every few years based on various jobs. I have files from the late 1980's that I can still read, but only with Libre Offic…

On the other hand, the fact that there are so many Markdown-based editors that can read the files you create in Obsidian gives plain text format more resilience over time. Even if Obsidian were to disappear, your writing and ideas will still be accessible in the future.
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