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Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

anytype.io

81–90 of 281 posts

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#81
post #27

Why does this smell like a cult? Talking about trust and having illusive pictures and designs.. And why do I need to login for an offline app? Where does the data really go? There is some setting remote storage, and some mb already used, so is in reallity an online-app with some offline-mirroring? But it seems there is not a choice to set the local storage-path, and the saved files are just your usual electron-blob-f…

> Talking about trust and having illusive pictures and designs.. it's one of the key features of the app that most other alternatives lack, it would be weird for them not to mention this > And why do I need to login for an offline app? it's not offline only, it can sync to your other devices over the internet > Where does the data really go? There is some setting remote storage, and some mb already used, so is in rea…

> it's one of the key features of the app that most other alternatives lack,

That's their claim, but it doesn't hold up much so far.

> it would be weird for them not to mention this

There is a difference between mentioning it, and using it as a selling-point.

> it's not offline only, it can sync to your other devices over the internet

There are many apps who can sync, most of them have it as an option, without a forced login and hidden sync.

> your data is encrypted, which is why you can't just access it via your file manager

So I can't even access my data and must trust in the app to not screw up, and have a well working export. Which considering it takes Notion and its poor export as inspiration, is not really a good sign

> hope this helps :)

Yes, thanks.

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#82
post #62
post #28

Note, their idea[0] of "open source" doesn't match the popular Open Source Definition [1] [0] https://github.com/anyproto/anytype-kotlin/blob/main/LICENSE... [1] https://opensource.org/osd/

Co-founder of anytype is here. The most of are repos are fully open-source. We have our philosophy regarding open source here https://blog.anytype.io/our-open-philosophy/ Happy to discuss concerns regarding our approach.

I was going to come here and post about how this is exactly what I've been looking for, but then I read this.

So, my kneejerk reaction to this deceptive use of open source is to just say "no" and move on. However, I read through your philosphy, and I have a question.

> considering the substantial R&D resources required for the application layer, we believe that businesses and networks utilizing our software for commercial purposes should contribute towards its ongoing development, allowing maintainers to support and enhance the platform.

That seems to be the crux of the concern here. I can respect that. So, why do existing open source licenses not suit you? For example, you could release the software under the AGPL, and still dual-license it as you wish.

Rather than assume bad faith, I'm going to give you the chance to correct yourself. At the very least, calling yourself open source at the moment is deceptive, whether you realize it or not.

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Notion is the single biggest frustration of any workplace tool I've ever used in my entire software career and it all comes down to its performance. Even worse than JIRA, or MS Teams? That sounds horrible indeed.

Yes, worse but it depends on what type of page you're working in. If it's of medium complexity and up, it's worse (a few media elements, maybe a database, etc.) If it's just text, it's faster than JIRA or Teams.

I have the same problem, I understand the enjoyment of sales / marketing team when it comes to using Notion, but for engineering team, it's just horrible, so slow.

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should be always skeptic but when someone write "Pure transparency — trust our code, not our words" in an EXTRA BIG font, you should be extra skeptic.

(co-founder of anytype) our main promises are privacy, end-to-end encryption, user controlled keys, self-hosting, p2p sync - all of which should add up to what we can user autonomy from the software provider which we believe to be important. To prove these claims the best way is open the source code. As promises of encryption and ownership stay promises unless you can be sure of it. That was one main motivation and w…

So I see the networking portions of the code are Free Software - that's great. How are people expected to use it if their use does not fall under "non-commercial use" as defined in the client license? Do you expect people to write their own clients for commercial use, or do you offer commercial licenses?

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#86
post #62
post #28

Note, their idea[0] of "open source" doesn't match the popular Open Source Definition [1] [0] https://github.com/anyproto/anytype-kotlin/blob/main/LICENSE... [1] https://opensource.org/osd/

Co-founder of anytype is here. The most of are repos are fully open-source. We have our philosophy regarding open source here https://blog.anytype.io/our-open-philosophy/ Happy to discuss concerns regarding our approach.

[deleted]

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#87
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Co-founder of anytype is here. The most of are repos are fully open-source. We have our philosophy regarding open source here https://blog.anytype.io/our-open-philosophy/ Happy to discuss concerns regarding our approach.

You deny your users the most basic freedom there is, the freedom to use your software for any purpose without discrimination. This is wrong, and so is your attempt to misuse and redefine the term "open source software".

This is the second time today that someone mistakes open source and free software.

See: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point....

I don't blame you, it's a bit schadenfreude on my part because "open source" companies try to dress as free software but aren't

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#88

This is really nice, but I think the perennial curse of technology people is producing " , but with " People want a thing, not an ideal, and they'll sell their soul to get the thing. At this point, it's actually being surprised by this that is the ludicrous position. Philosophies are a differentiator for a very small portion of population. If you want them to buy into ideals, you've taken on two problems: Make a thin…

> People want a thing, not an ideal...

So, welcome to Hacker News, where the particular esoteric principles discussed here are critically important for many of us. This is very much a selling point in this market.

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#89
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Co-founder of anytype is here. The most of are repos are fully open-source. We have our philosophy regarding open source here https://blog.anytype.io/our-open-philosophy/ Happy to discuss concerns regarding our approach.

You deny your users the most basic freedom there is, the freedom to use your software for any purpose without discrimination. This is wrong, and so is your attempt to misuse and redefine the term "open source software".

> This is wrong

This is a highly subjective take - it might be better to stick to objective dictionary definitions.

This project clearly isn't open source, & shouldn't be advertised as such, but on the other hand the intent here is a common/popular one these days, & its not the first of its kind: I'm surprised no-one has yet coined a term for this relatively new breed of "faux-pen source" or whatever it is.

Fwiw I do think it has it's place - it's certainly more than preferable to all rights reserved.

Re: Anytype – local-first, P2P Notion alternative

#90

I'm sorry to hijack the thread but as someone forced to use Notion as a team wiki, please improve the performance! I can't emphasize this enough. The Notion subreddit is filled with complaints: if that's not a wake up call to every single PM at Notion, I don't know what is. Stop shipping features until the perf is a joy to your users. It's mind-boggling to me that companies would prio anything over fixing perf outsid…

> Notion is the single biggest frustration of any workplace tool I've ever used in my entire software career and it all comes down to its performance. Even worse than JIRA, or MS Teams? That sounds horrible indeed.

I can vouch for it being worse than JIRA, which I was absolutely not prepared for when I moved to a company that uses Notion for its ticketing system.
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