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Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

yournote.app

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Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#11

Post by joekrill »

beatgammit wrote: post #8
aviaryan wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is true, and the only way to fix that is when users see the code and run it themselves (I plan to open source very soon). Apart from that, I don't think I can provide any other guarantees. No open source project can. If they are discovered doing something bad, they go rekt. That's how it usually is. So what's the point here? Should I not have a line like this in my copy? Another thing that can be done is that I…

Or more simply, just allow users to self host. Users can trust one version of the app, and then only update when they need a new feature, at which point they can choose to trust that version. However, that already exists. I can use NextCloud in this manner and the have a note app.

I've said this before, but that's just kicking the can down the street. At some point, unless you are inspecting every line of source code, every dependency, every dependency's dependency, and so on down the line until you get to the silicon, you HAVE TO put your trust somewhere.

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#12

Post by aviaryan »

hknd wrote: post #6

The landing page doesn't show me anything about this product, and just forces me to login with 'blockstack'. Guess I'll close the tab ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oops, the info about the product is at the bottom. And I should have added a screenshot or illustration too. I added one in the background now. Here is how the app looks. https://i.imgur.com/T3ZVj35.png

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#13

Post by joekrill »

TekMol wrote: post #5
aviaryan wrote: post #2

Hi HN, The founder of YourNote here. YourNote is a user-first note-taking app. By user-first, we mean that user's personal data (which are the notes) are guaranteed to be secure and private if you use YourNote. This is achieved by using Blockstack and Gaia for user authentication and user data storage. So, at any point in time, user and only the user has access to their notes. Even if their Gaia storage gets hijacked…

at any point in time, user and only the user has access to their notes I don't think that is true. When I use your app, you can do anything you want to my data. You might promise me that the Javascript you delivered to my browser is treating my data in a certain way. Storing it in encrypted form or whatnot. But that is just a promise. Reality is: you can ship me code that does whatever you like.

I mean, this is effectively called "life" (as it stands today). You have to trust people. You have to trust someone, at some point. That's why we have things like privacy policies and service agreements. There can ALWAYS be a malicious actor somewhere in the chain. Even if you were to hand write a clone of this app in assembly and compile it yourself: can you trust the compiler? Can you trust your CPU? Can you trust your monitor?

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#14

Post by anonvom6 »

There are a few open source alternatives that let you store your notes locally.

In no particular order,

1. QOwnNotes - https://github.com/pbek/QOwnNotes

2. Joplin - https://github.com/laurent22/joplin

3. Zim Desktop Wiki - https://github.com/jaap-karssenberg/zim-desktop-wiki

Boostnote was pretty good as well, but it seems like after the change in leadership, there has been some issues.

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#15

Post by trulyrandom »

The site is a little light on details, but I assume my notes will be stored in a distributed way? What are some key advantages of this over something like Standard Notes (https://standardnotes.org), which allows backing up notes to multiple different cloud storage providers.

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#16

Post by aviaryan »

JeffMerlet wrote: post #9
aviaryan wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blockstack is like a framework that allows people to create and access decentralized apps on top of it. It enables that by letting users created a decentralized ID that is stored on the blockchain (bitcoin) and giving users access to the apps based on that ID (like authentication). Gaia is a storage system built by the Blockstack team. It is different from IPFS and others in the sense that it allows the user to choos…

What happens if one day Blockstack and Gaia go definitely away?

Even if Blockstack goes away, you can still access your data (in encrypted form) as Gaia is nothing but a storage system that is a wrapper over existing storage providers (aws, google cloud, and more). Now, the question is how you will decrypt it. Blockstack stores auth information on the Bitcoin blockchain so I guess you will be able to access your Blockstack credentials as long as Bitcoin blockchain is accessible and you have access to your secrets. Also, Blockstack and Gaia are open-source so it's unlikely they disappear with no trace.

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#17

Post by skinnymuch »

anonvom6 wrote: post #14

There are a few open source alternatives that let you store your notes locally. In no particular order, 1. QOwnNotes - https://github.com/pbek/QOwnNotes 2. Joplin - https://github.com/laurent22/joplin 3. Zim Desktop Wiki - https://github.com/jaap-karssenberg/zim-desktop-wiki Boostnote was pretty good as well, but it seems like after the change in leadership, there has been some issues.

What issues does Boost have now? It seemed like one of the better options for code notes

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#18

Post by canadaduane »

aviaryan wrote: post #2

Hi HN, The founder of YourNote here. YourNote is a user-first note-taking app. By user-first, we mean that user's personal data (which are the notes) are guaranteed to be secure and private if you use YourNote. This is achieved by using Blockstack and Gaia for user authentication and user data storage. So, at any point in time, user and only the user has access to their notes. Even if their Gaia storage gets hijacked…

Neat! I agree, and although it may not be clear what all of this means to everyone, this is the beginning of how "blockchain" (I use the word loosely) is going to prove its value. At Mainframe, we're working on something similar, called "Noted", and we offer some of the same guarantees but take it one step further: we rely on no centralized infrastructure at all, not even DNS. Congrats on getting this released!

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#19

Post by aviaryan »

cocoa19 wrote: post #10

This sounds like a great idea. If this product is free and takes off, how do you plan to monetize the website?

I can ask users for a one-time charge to sign up on the app. Also, maybe I can add some "pro" features which I am unsure of, at the moment. Not really sure to be honest, let's see.

Re: Show HN: YourNote, a note-taking app that puts users’ data first

#20

Post by canadaduane »

joekrill wrote: post #11
beatgammit wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or more simply, just allow users to self host. Users can trust one version of the app, and then only update when they need a new feature, at which point they can choose to trust that version. However, that already exists. I can use NextCloud in this manner and the have a note app.

I've said this before, but that's just kicking the can down the street. At some point, unless you are inspecting every line of source code, every dependency, every dependency's dependency, and so on down the line until you get to the silicon, you HAVE TO put your trust somewhere.

The approach we're taking at Mainframe is to create a new "baby OS" that provides a sandbox for dApps to live in. This way, the OS acts as intermediary on permissions to access any resource that would contradict the user's will. For example, accessing a URL, signing data with a private key, or making a payment would all involve an OS-level permission. (For now, mainframeOS is part desktop app and part decentralized infrastructure. The user experience of the desktop app is similar to a browser, but cannot access DNS without explicit permission, and relies on decentralized infrastructure only, which provides privacy and security guarantees that today's browsers can't. Someday it will grow up into a real OS layer.)
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