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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

#51

Post by mjedmonds »

qppo wrote: post #39

I actually get a lot of value from cloud hosted solutions, I bounce between 2-3 machines daily and multiple OS installations several times a week, and would like for my notes taken on one machine to just be there when I write notes on another machine. Another thing I need to do often is type up design docs collaboratively, we use google docs for this currently but it sucks for our use cases. And finally, I read and w…

Definitely can use across computers using a cloud sync provider (dropbox, etc).

You can also have multiple vaults, and if you want to collaborate, you can share that vault with someone.

Realtime collaboration may be a bit dangerous with syncing over a cloud provider. They are also planning a subscription with note hosting - perhaps that will include some form of collaboration.

If you put all of your GH wiki pages into a single vault, that may be a solution (though I don't think it's possible to create a solution to your setup in the most general setting - you'd have to be able to link to any file on your OS).

But you can throw your data up on a server and make it accessible from anywhere with an internet connection

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

#52

Post by rrherr »

What I'm looking for:

1st priority: macOS & iOS apps that always sync, open FAST, and look clean, to enter new notes with no friction. Like Bear (which I currently use) and Simplenote (which I used to use).

2nd priority: Bi-directional links. Like Roam and Obsidian. Transclusion. Like Roam (and Obsidian?)

I'm willing to pay up to $15/month. Like Roam.

Are there any solutions that give all of the above?

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

#53

Post by mjedmonds »

sdedovic wrote: post #44

My two biggest issues, skimming the website: - this does not seem to be open source or free-as-in-speech. That worries me - especially when it comes to longevity. It's the reason I wouldn't use this product if it was by Google. - i don't see an easy way to export my data in case I would like to migrate to a different service. That being said I am definitely going to try it out and see what it does for me! There is de…

You don't need to export your data. Your data is stored in plaintext markdown files on your machine. So if it does shut down, you still have all of your content in a format that can be readily read by many, many editors

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

#54

Post by ericax »

benrbray wrote: post #47

This looks great! Good timing too, since Roam has recently closed its doors to new signups. I've been looking for a new notetaking / PKM / Markdown app recently, but unfortunately all apps out there fall short in at least one of the following criteria: * bidirectional [[wiki links]] * support for both inline and display math * customizable themes / CSS * rich formatting beyond markdown (e.g. wrap content in tags with…

Inline math is coming very soon! WYSIWYG unfortunately will take a while to get right, but we'll get there.

Give Obsidian a try and let us know what you think! :)

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

#57

Post by ericax »

loughnane wrote: post #36

I will never again build any kind of workflow for my knowledge on top of anything that isn’t open source. 5y is a long time and 10y is an eternity for these sorts of products but its just a fraction of my working life. My own personal setup is a bunch of markdown files and it’s great, so I like that approach, but I’m very cautious about investing time for something so important in a product i don’t control.

We'll likely make a formal guarantee to open source in the case of us shutting down. Didn't realize that was a possibility, thanks for the suggestion!

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

#58

Post by O_H_E »

A few amazing things the site is not doing justice yet

- Everything transclusion: just like you can show images in Github-MD, obsidian allows you to view PDF, Audio, or even other notes inside a note.

- Header-level linking: You can link a note using [[note_name##sub_heading]]. Therefor, you can embedded a section of a note inside another.

- CSS modding is AMAZING. The community is getting creative with modding obsidian to fit different workflows. From Andy Matuschak mode[1][2] to minimalist theme[3].

[1] https://forum.obsidian.md/t/andy-matuschak-mode-v2/170

[2] https://notes.andymatuschak.org/About_these_notes

[3] https://github.com/kmaasrud/clean-theme-obsidian

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

#59

Post by soapboxrocket »

loughnane wrote: post #36

I will never again build any kind of workflow for my knowledge on top of anything that isn’t open source. 5y is a long time and 10y is an eternity for these sorts of products but its just a fraction of my working life. My own personal setup is a bunch of markdown files and it’s great, so I like that approach, but I’m very cautious about investing time for something so important in a product i don’t control.

I'm in agreement with you on this. I've been playing with a package for Atom that would simplify a bunch of stuff in my process, but in general I don't like the risk of proprietary software/stack for my workflow.

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

#60

Post by galoisscobi »

sdedovic wrote: post #44

My two biggest issues, skimming the website: - this does not seem to be open source or free-as-in-speech. That worries me - especially when it comes to longevity. It's the reason I wouldn't use this product if it was by Google. - i don't see an easy way to export my data in case I would like to migrate to a different service. That being said I am definitely going to try it out and see what it does for me! There is de…

As for your second point, when I tried it out, it just used a local directory that it puts all the markdown files in. I think that should work fine.
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