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A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

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Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#71
post #65

Unless I'm missing something very obvious, the source repository https://github.com/streetwriters/notesnook only includes the client apps and not the server, and the parent organization "streetwriters" doesn't seem to have any other repositories for the server. How are you supposed to run your own instance without that? There's also a lot of marketing-speak in the repository documentation and little to no documentati…

https://notesnook.com/roadmap/ >September onwards >Open source sync server + self hosting

What reason is there for not pushing the server to GitHub now?

Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#72
I am more likely to journal and blog if the friction to creating a post is as simple as opening a document and writing. The important part of journalling or note software is that you actually create notes. I did use Hetzner to run a Wordpress blog but it had an overhead of server expenses and keeping Wordpress up-to-date.

I don't want my data trapped in a proprietary system where it is difficult to export, so I use plaintext. I looked into Publii [1] but I prefer my current plaintext setup. Today I journal software ideas, computer ideas, startup ideas and community ideas on GitHub in the open, as README.md files. My journal is all public on GitHub at the following links. There are over 550+ journal entries, I am sure you shall enjoy them.

https://github.com/samsquire/ideas

https://github.com/samsquire/ideas2

https://github.com/samsquire/ideas3

https://github.com/samsquire/ideas4

https://github.com/samsquire/startups

https://getpublii.com/

Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#73
post #7

My primary requirement for personal note taking is self hosting. That's the only thing that assures me that my years of notes will be available when I wake up every morning. (And if I don't wake up one morning, I doubt I'll miss the availability of my notes)

I am curious what kind of information do you have in your notes that you keep them around for years. Not trying to mock or anything but I am wondering if I too would benefit from such a thing. Most of my notes are ephemeral and I delete them soon (within weeks at most).

I write lots of thoughts, plans, logs of activity, to do lists that stretch back, literally, years (and yes, there's a limit to the practicality of that, but they can also be culled, bit it's also just text, so it's not like it's taking up precious storage space).

I always tag each 'note' so it's mostly findable down the track.

I use it to document the backup process of my homelab, and so those notes grow and change over a relatively large period of time. Also document various docker-compose scripts and straight docker create scripts for the various services running on my network, and they get tweaked with some regularity (updating PiHole and Jellyfin instances etc.)

Thinking about your question, "notes" probably is an understatement of how I use it. "Documentation" is probably a more accurate description. Something like my "digital life wiki".

FYI I use noteself, self-hosted using a couchdb instance. Noteself is an extension of tiddlywiki with pouchdb built in as a local in-browser data store (which, with the setup I use syncs with a couchdb instance). I've used it for a number of years.

Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#74
More and more I’m thinking of having open software that runs on client hardware and that sync via simple P2P connections. For example having some Evernote clone where the mobile app is in sync with the desktop app without using a centralized server.

My issue is being trapped in SaaS platforms with bad business models that threaten the existence of the service. Think of Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, Facebook, heck even Uber and Uber eats clones.

Though I’m not into the crypto stuff. I’d be OK if banks kept centralized ledgers that these free-to-use privacy-oriented P2P services could use, for crowd sourced applications.

I really miss the feeling of the internet in the 90s and 00s but how could people work on these projects while still make a living?

Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#75
post #7

My primary requirement for personal note taking is self hosting. That's the only thing that assures me that my years of notes will be available when I wake up every morning. (And if I don't wake up one morning, I doubt I'll miss the availability of my notes)

StandardNotes makes daily encrypted exports to your Google drive, mailbox, and others. That's not self hosted but it's texts files so... Good enough for me.

The self-hosted-ness also provides the ability for me to access my notes, password protected as well, from any computer with a browser. If I'm on my work computer and remember an appointment or an important task, I can load it up, add the task, and it's there on any other device I access the notes through.

For a while now I've been aiming for a setup with minimal dependence on any specific device. The device is throwaway whilst the service is consistent. There are obvious limits to this, however.

(It feels like something like Nix would be perfect for scripting the device specific setup for accessing the services, I just haven't had the time or motivation to get into that)

Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#77
post #71
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://notesnook.com/roadmap/ >September onwards >Open source sync server + self hosting

What reason is there for not pushing the server to GitHub now ?

I can think of a few:

* not ready * in technical review * in legal review (can all code be published under an OS license?) * in security review * missing documentation

I’m sure there’s plenty of other possible reasons. They seem to have a roadmap that they want to follow, so that implies they have thought about what they need in place to open source the components.

Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#78
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you found a good way to export a backup, instead of only cloud sync? Too to lose content by deleting by accident and then syncing.

Apple Notes keep all deleted notes in a trash bin for 30 days, you won't lose anything unless you manually go and remove them.

Deleted notes are easy to recover; deleted text not so much.

Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven’t found anything better than Joplin, have you?

Joplin has no mobile writer. Only reading. Obsidian has that. And is more extendable. That is why I switched. For me, writing a note on multiple devices is the key feature.

I edit on mobile all the time... works great

Re: A fully open-source and end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote

#80
post #2

I'm still using joplin + dropbox

Fun fact: Joplin log files include plaintext secret keys when you enable E2EE. I moved away from Joplin after that plus a data loss incident where Joplin decided that it wanted to delete all of my notes in the repository. Too many foot guns there! I did like the software though.

Wait a minute, that's not fun at all!
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