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

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

#61

Post by kilroy123 »

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…

I too have been looking for a better note-taking app. I also signed up for Roam but I'm still on the waitlist. I've been trying out all kinds of programs and coincidentally enough tried Obsidian this last week.

I feel the same exact way as you in regards to all these apps. I currently use Joplin but I wish it was more "roam like" but looked like https://bear.app/.

So far I've settled on using Typora with Joplin.

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

#62

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#63

Post by bachmeier »

christiansakai wrote: post #56

Nothing is forever. Especially if it is not free. Especially if it is not open source. If personal use is free forever but not open source, how am I supposed to believe that it will be free forever? Color me skeptical.

All your data is in text format. It's a desktop app, so you don't really lose it, but if for some reason it disappears and your installed app stops working, all your data is already in a directory on your computer.

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

#64

Post by elric »

I'm sure it's intended to look nice, but that website is so dark I can barely read it. I hope the application ships with a readable theme?

From what I can make out, it seems to draw some inspiration from zettelkasten tools, which looks promising at least.

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

#65

Post by ericax »

kotutku wrote: post #30
ericax wrote: post #7

Maker here, excited to be on Hacker News. Obsidian is going into public beta today! (We're also on Product Hunt, come check us out!) We made Obsidian to be your long-term second brain and personal knowledge base. As you put in more notes and make more connections, the knowledge base gets more valuable, so we think it's important that you can 100% own your data and not rely on any cloud services. We believe you second…

Are you going to add some features for more structured data? I'm thinking about tables like in Notion where you can sort by any column. Working with Markdown tables is very clunky.

The closest thing in Markdown is probably front-matters. You're right in that Obsidian is not great for structured data right now, and for that purpose Notion or Airtable is much better.

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

#66

Post by kilroy123 »

rrherr wrote: post #52

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?

I 100% agree.

I've been tempted to migrate from Typora + Joplin to bear app. Do you think it's worth it?

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

#67

Post by alexktz »

I tried out Obsidian in the closed beta and also Roam Research before ending up learning org-roam as part of org-mode in emacs.

I won't deny there is a heck of a learning curve with org-mode but once you make the jump I doubt you'll ever look back.

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

#69

Post by elric »

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…

Have you looked into Zettlr(.com)? It ticks most of your boxes. Plain old markdown. And it's actually open source and a pretty decent community, so there's a good chance to get features in.

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

#70

Post by christiansakai »

bachmeier wrote: post #63
christiansakai wrote: post #56

Nothing is forever. Especially if it is not free. Especially if it is not open source. If personal use is free forever but not open source, how am I supposed to believe that it will be free forever? Color me skeptical.

All your data is in text format. It's a desktop app, so you don't really lose it, but if for some reason it disappears and your installed app stops working, all your data is already in a directory on your computer.

I mean, the data is the least I'm concerned about. It is the app itself and the way it works that it tightly integrated to my workflow.

In the case it shuts down, there's now way I'll spend my time redoing my workflow or grep stuffs over all now already scattered digital documents.

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