Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 484 posts

Re: Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

#91

Post by diggan »

wslh wrote: post #83
nchagnet wrote: post #6

This is a really great project from both the French and German governments. I think state-funded open source solutions to digital platforms is a fantastic opportunity to get away from the big tech walled gardens. Of course, there is always the risk that this becomes unmaintained in the future, but the community at least can take over. But until then, it's a nice platform and a nice contribution to the community.

> Of course, there is always the risk that this becomes unmaintained in the future We can't even be certain that Notion won't be acquired, deprecated, or poorly maintained in the future. Risks exist on both sides.

> We can't even be certain that Notion won't be acquired, deprecated, or poorly maintained in the future.

At this point, I feel like we can be pretty sure the combination of "Huge VC investments + for-profit startup" will with 99% certainly eventually lead down the road of enshittification, either by acquisition or by going public. At least based on most previous "internet" startups with that combination.

Re: Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

#92

Post by sMarsIntruder »

sMarsIntruder wrote: post #81
johndhi wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't thought about this a ton - but am I wrong that it sounds crazy and inefficient for the government to essentially compete with private industry? It feels like a colliding of worlds and a cannibalization that doesn't make sense to me. Like - if the government launched a messaging app competitive with WhatsApp and it drew users away from WhatsApp and it had better encryption ... Would that actually be better f…

You’re right. That’s economically inefficient, but apparently seems to be the only way to create models that compete with the bigs. IMHO this repo will die within few years, and that’s both a pity and a waste of public money.

Guys, pls say that government-funded open source projects are fine, otherwise prepare to get downvoted just because it is.

Re: Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

#93

Post by tommoor »

rtpg wrote: post #17

Having both the Notion-like UI and the real time collaboration is exciting! So much stuff has been either/or, and it made it hard for me to find a good alternative. I really appreciate how Notion is basically "what if Google Docs but you can actually organize your information". The collaborative components feel really powerful. I do kind of wish that something that was more ... Wiki-flavored would show up though. I l…

You should take a look at Outline (mentioned in the title). https://www.getoutline.com/

Re: Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

#95

Post by jdvh »

ukuina wrote: post #80
wim wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're working on an "IDE for notes/tasks" [1] in the space of Notion and so on where you can easily self-host the sync backend with a single binary. The idea is that you can choose between cloud or self-host (and "eject" at any time to switch between the two if you ever change your mind). We hope that might be a good balance between some companies or individuals wanting to self-host but still making it accessible whe…

This looks neat! Will the self-hosted binary function in air-gapped environments?

Absolutely. There is no phone-home of any kind.

Re: Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

#96

Post by wim »

ukuina wrote: post #80
wim wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're working on an "IDE for notes/tasks" [1] in the space of Notion and so on where you can easily self-host the sync backend with a single binary. The idea is that you can choose between cloud or self-host (and "eject" at any time to switch between the two if you ever change your mind). We hope that might be a good balance between some companies or individuals wanting to self-host but still making it accessible whe…

This looks neat! Will the self-hosted binary function in air-gapped environments?

Yep, should work!

Re: Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

#97

Post by thor-rodrigues »

I really like the idea of shifting the business model for office software. Instead of the current model—where companies develop a tool, lock users into their ecosystem, and profit by bundling software with hosting and storage—we could move to a model where different providers compete to offer the best deployment solutions. This would foster competition based on factors like pricing, encryption, customer support, server location, and integration flexibility, rather than simply forcing users into long-term subscriptions.

That’s why I’m glad to see governments supporting Open Source alternatives to proprietary office software. Paying recurring subscription fees for low-maintenance tools like MS Office feels out of touch—especially when Microsoft once offered a one-time purchase model before shifting to SaaS to maximize profits. This change has made it difficult for individuals and businesses to retain long-term ownership of their tools without being tied to costly and recurring fees. The same trend has played out across the software industry, from design tools like Adobe Creative Cloud (which replaced one-time purchases with a mandatory subscription model) to communication platforms like Slack and Zoom, which lock companies into ongoing costs while limiting interoperability with other solutions.

Re: Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

#98

Post by jjice »

It feels like notetaking/wiki software have gotten a resurgence in the last few years. Not that it was ever not a thing, but like a new generation of people realized wanted to build new tools for it.

Personally, I think the variety of tools is very interesting, and while I like Obsidian and plain markdown file, I do love to see different options in the space with hosted options and different capabilities.

Notion feels like it's got this serious range from individuals up to teams at large enterprises. It's incredibly flexible and configurable and I have to assume that's a big part of it, but it was so interesting to watch it eat away at other things like Confluence over the years. My perspective is probably skewed (and I know Confluence and other are probably still massive and dominant), but I'm surprised such a simple concept is getting so much more software. Or actually, that's probably why it's a space with so much software.

Re: Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

#100

Post by diggan »

johndhi wrote: post #19
nchagnet wrote: post #6

This is a really great project from both the French and German governments. I think state-funded open source solutions to digital platforms is a fantastic opportunity to get away from the big tech walled gardens. Of course, there is always the risk that this becomes unmaintained in the future, but the community at least can take over. But until then, it's a nice platform and a nice contribution to the community.

I haven't thought about this a ton - but am I wrong that it sounds crazy and inefficient for the government to essentially compete with private industry? It feels like a colliding of worlds and a cannibalization that doesn't make sense to me. Like - if the government launched a messaging app competitive with WhatsApp and it drew users away from WhatsApp and it had better encryption ... Would that actually be better f…

> if the government launched a messaging app competitive with WhatsApp and it drew users away from WhatsApp and it had better encryption ... Would that actually be better for the economy of this country? Something seems off about it to me.

I'm curious to know why that seems off. If you're a "free market" proponent, you usually are because you want people to have access to "the best", as that's what competition is supposed to bring out.

And if a government manages to come up with a better Whatsapp (whatever that means), and users starts to change, then clearly the alternative is better, as proven by users moving over, so then even someone who wants free markets would believe that this is a good outcome, if I understand things correctly.

But instead it sounds crazy to you, it seems. It would be interesting to hear more about why you feel this is crazy. To me it sounds like a good idea for users, which I guess is what I care more about.

Post reply on HN