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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

#231

Post by backscratches »

godelski wrote: post #223
backscratches wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet the majority of all computers dont just have some open source software, their operating systems are open source. The worlds digital infrastructure is largely open source.

Not to mention the majority of business software depends on open source software too! Be it the thousands of libraries we use (so we don't have to implement ourselves and we get better integration with others) to literally building on top of open source stuff (Android, every slicer for your 3d printer, all your servers, and literally millions of other things)

Exactly, this is what I was getting at. The guy above uses open source software every time he touches anything electric.

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

#232

Post by al_borland »

thr1owaway9621 wrote: post #219

I wonder if markdown will slowly fall out of favor for note taking, because AI can generate gorgeous-looking HTML essentially for free. I saw this bit of advice on twitter last week -- to use HTML as the target output for your LLM when you do planning or discussion sessions. And it's been very nice. It's so much easier to parse lots of info when it's presented in an organized/color-coordinated HTML file (potentially…

For me, a key tenant of any good note taking system is low friction. Leaning on an LLM feels like significant friction. Formatting something into HTML manually also feels like a lot of fiction. Individual HTML files for notes would also be a friction filled experience for opening and browsing, without some kind of template to allow for navigation of the notes within the browser. This ends up turning into a local wiki very quickly.

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

#233

Post by killerstorm »

HDMI_Cable wrote: post #163
flexagoon wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, Obsidian is an Electron app with no obfuscation, so it's pretty easy to get its code. I think I even remember the official Obsidian team telling people to do that on their support forum if they distrusted the app.

Which really begs the question: why not have it open-source at that point? Obsidian isn't making money from things hidden in the code, but rather their Sync service. Might as well open-source it (and perhaps get more people helping with the development), keep the Sync service, and stem competitor projects like these in the bud.

"Open source" is not same as "source available".

"Source available": you can look at source code, maybe run a modified version internally.

"Open source": you can integrate it into your own software, republish, etc.

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

#234

Post by fc417fc802 »

wutanc wrote: post #215
bachmeier wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The data is open and stored in markdown format. Plugins are open source. The core product is not open source, but it's also just an electron app. I've always viewed Obsidian as the inverse of an open core product.

I don't really mind this way of doing it since I know that my data is "safe". I can at any time just grab my vault and open it in any editor. I can write my own editor. I can import the data into most other tools. It's when the data isn't open that I tend to avoid the product.

Exactly this. Conversely, most open source apps on android might as well be closed source with regards to your practical ability to export your data unless you use a ROM that gives you some form of root access (such as adb root).

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

#235

Post by RivoLink »

backscratches wrote: post #221
RivoLink wrote: post #41

Same idea, but directly inside your terminal: https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf

I use tree-md for same end when I want to see my markdown a bit prettier https://github.com/Epistates/treemd

It’s interesting too. Thanks!

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

#236

Post by joemi »

rbits wrote: post #158
jazz9k wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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." I don't think they are mixing the two. If they open sourced it, there would be immediate competition. Anyone could fork it and circumvent/compete with any premium features they might want to add to it in the future. It's very hard to use this…

Well they'd just release it under a non-commercial license. The majority of their income comes from Obsidian Sync, and someone can't just host their own version of Obsidian Sync for all the Obsidian users for free. And there are already self-hosted alternatives to Obsidian Sync, in fact Obsidian even endorses them themselves[1]. As for their other paid service, Obsidian Publish, since all Obsidian notes are in plain…

> So open sourcing would not harm any of those income streams.

Obsidian's income streams are based on Obsidian having easy-to-use easy-to-setup ways to sync and publish built-in. If Obsidian were open source, someone could fork it and remove or replace those built-in methods, which has the potential to harm their income streams. Whether it actually would and by how much depends on a lot of unknowns and is all just conjecture, but _if_ such a fork became somehow more popular than Obsidian proper, that'd definitely affect them.

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

#237

Post by kepano »

andix wrote: post #178
HDMI_Cable wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which really begs the question: why not have it open-source at that point? Obsidian isn't making money from things hidden in the code, but rather their Sync service. Might as well open-source it (and perhaps get more people helping with the development), keep the Sync service, and stem competitor projects like these in the bud.

Because then someone might fork it into a new product with their own sync service.

Obsidian has an entire plugin category for syncing, and recommended alternatives to the official Sync service.

https://community.obsidian.md/search?type=plugin&categories=...

https://obsidian.md/help/sync-notes

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

#238

Post by loudandskittish »

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.

So, this comes up pretty much every time Obsidian is mentioned... to the point where I'm curious as to where the idea that it's open source comes from in the first place.

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

#239

Post by RobertJacobson »

UnnoTed wrote: post #115

AI'm building a native version[0] of Obsidian in Qt6 (QWidgets, cpp), replicating the markdown editor takes a while, there are so many ways of corrupting the file or losing the rendered markdown style... but its getting there[1] and its lightweight, using about 15mb ram, no gpu and barely uses any cpu when the cursor or scroll moves, like a text editor should be. Still need to render widget tables, lists and syntax h…

That's really cool!

Since you are using Qt, as I understand it you will need to pay for a Qt license if you intend to distribute your app as closed source.

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