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Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

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Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#91

Post by simonmales »

jlos wrote: post #82
himata4113 wrote: post #14

This made me realize that obsidian is *not* opensource, but in a way obsidian made me feel like it was opensource. Obviously now that I researched it, it is quite obvious that it is not, but still it 'feels' like it should be opensource.

Why should it be opensource? Obsidian gives you complete control of your data, which it stores in an open standard. Please explain to me why developers should act like monks who've taken a vow of poverty? The devs built something valuable, they should profit from it.

It's a personal bias for me.

Perception of quality, because the author is under constant review.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#92

Post by himata4113 »

jlos wrote: post #82
himata4113 wrote: post #14

This made me realize that obsidian is *not* opensource, but in a way obsidian made me feel like it was opensource. Obviously now that I researched it, it is quite obvious that it is not, but still it 'feels' like it should be opensource.

Why should it be opensource? Obsidian gives you complete control of your data, which it stores in an open standard. Please explain to me why developers should act like monks who've taken a vow of poverty? The devs built something valuable, they should profit from it.

Not saying they have to be, it's just a weird assumption that I've built up in my head. Possibly because obsidian handles sensitive data and I somewhat was under the impression it has the open-source tier scrutiny when it came to inner workings of the app.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#94

Post by alwillis »

mgfist wrote: post #52
portmanteur wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the explosion of open source released projects I've seen over the past six months, I believe developers are getting compensated by the tool they are building for themselves creating real value for them. I have a problem, I spend a few days building a tool that solves the problem, it works pretty well for me, and I release it to let others get value from it. They make tweaks to it, perhaps improve it, and I get…

Obsidian has a number of full time employees who all want to eat and afford rent

> Obsidian has a number of full time employees who all want to eat and afford rent

They have lots of sponsors [1]; you can pay $4/month for sync service or $50 a year, per person for a commercial license.

[1]: https://obsidian.md/enterprise/

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#95

Post by zakirullin »

pulse-dev wrote: post #59
ocimbote wrote: post #17

I wouldn't show it as an alternative to Obsidian though. It shares MD files with it and both are supposedly about note taking ("supposedly" is for Obsidian, I haven't tried Files.md yet), but Files.md seems to have its own way of making the users work with their thoughts, notes and knowledge altogether. When I read "an alternative", I assumed feature-parity and API compatibility. But what I found out was entirely dif…

Maybe something like "self-hosted markdown notes you fully own" or "personal knowledge server"? Leans into the ownership angle instead of competing with Obsidian on features.

Well, that sounds great, actually.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#96

Post by jlos »

So you saw a product that (1) gives you complete control of your data (2) uses an open format (3) only charges for sync, publish, and commercial use, and you thought to yourself:

"What a great use of my time building a competitor that adds no value, just to save a few dollars a month on sync and publishing. I hope other people value their time as little as I do and contribute"

Have fun!

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#97

Post by appplication »

trvz wrote: post #18
zakirullin wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was the reason a few years ago I started this project. It seems like software in AI-era should be distributed open source. So that anyone could tweak it however he wants. Not though clunky plugins system.

And the developers get compensated for their work how?

I don’t mean to be condescending but it feels like if this were an important question it would have halted OSS development decades ago.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#98

Post by embedding-shape »

jlos wrote: post #82
himata4113 wrote: post #14

This made me realize that obsidian is *not* opensource, but in a way obsidian made me feel like it was opensource. Obviously now that I researched it, it is quite obvious that it is not, but still it 'feels' like it should be opensource.

Why should it be opensource? Obsidian gives you complete control of your data, which it stores in an open standard. Please explain to me why developers should act like monks who've taken a vow of poverty? The devs built something valuable, they should profit from it.

Wait, why are you mixing the two? You can have the software be under an open source license, yet still not be a monk that has taken a vow of poverty, it's not black and white.

AFAIK (as a long-term Obsidian daily user) Obsidian makes their money on various things attached to the editor/viewer itself, but don't actually charge for the editor/viewer. Even if they did, they could still slap a FOSS license on it, and continue charging for the parts they charge for today.

I'm guessing it's something else they're worried about though, rather than those things.

I agree with your very last part though, but I don't agree you cannot make it open source at the same time.

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#99

Post by gbro3n »

prepend wrote: post #67

This is neat, but I need a non-server-side program for this. I want everything local and running for the next 20+ years.

This is why I built https://www.asnotes.io - It's an extension for VS Code. I needed obsidian but usable on corporate networks that don't allow Obsidian or other pkms apps. It's designed to be version control friendly so no sync server is needed either (just use Git)

Re: Show HN: Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian

#100

Post by LinuxAmbulance »

zakirullin wrote: post #42
pspeter3 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes Golang a great fit in your opinion?

Server setup before the rewrite: docker + php-fpm + php7 + larvel + nginx + redis + cron + worker + certbot Server after the rewrite to Golang: server, a 15MB no-dependencies binary that has everything.

That is a pretty strong argument for Go!
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