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Why I Like Obsidian

ddanieltan.com

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Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#161

Post by bloopernova »

dustincoates wrote: post #41

I like Obsidian, too, having recently switched over from 9 years of OneNote (the fact that there's a tool to import my OneNote notes helped a lot). The most important tip for getting started with Obsidian, in my mind, is to absolutely ignore all of the Obsidian "power users." I'm 99% convinced that no one actually uses zettelkasten seriously, but even if so, it's overkill for when you're just checking out the app. An…

I tried zettlekasten and found I just didn't use it enough to justify the effort involved.

Instead I just have an org-mode folder that I dump documents in. I search across them with Deft in Emacs. Sure, the links between documents can be incredibly useful to some people, but I've found I'm more chaotic than that.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#162

Post by orbital-decay »

keep320909 wrote: post #141

I prefer Logseq. It does not need plugins for basic things (PDF annotations). And is completely opensource with transparent development on Github. And I find its workflow much better. Obsidian is commercial closed source app with subscription. Free for personal use only, commercial license is $50/year. I am not going to build my PIM around proprietary tool with subscription!

> I am not going to build my PIM around proprietary tool with subscription!

If your concern is about the lack of a clear migration path, Obsidian vaults are just folders with markdown files, which can be used with absolutely anything, you can literally use them in Emacs or VSCode if you want. The most popular PDF annotation plugin is AGPL-3 licensed and its format is also transparent so you can migrate to something else.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#163

Post by poulpy123 »

firecall wrote: post #86
hoherd wrote: post #69

I was unaware of this until a few weeks ago, so I'd like to raise awareness for anybody who it affects: Obsidian is not FOSS, and purchasing a license is required for any work that generates revenue at a for-profit company of 2 or more people. https://obsidian.md/license Obsidian looks awesome to me, and for a long time I've been thinking about adopting it, but this licensing issue caused me to back away and look for…

And also no Synching with a subscription! When I already have access to the iCloud ecosystem, and Notes is excellent across iOS and macOS, I have never really seen much point in trying to use Obsidian. But then maybe I'm missing the point of Obsidian?

you can use alternative for syncing that are quite well integrated even if a bit more complex to set up

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#164

Post by Zambyte »

iCarrot wrote: post #60
px43 wrote: post #13

Super weird IMO that they refuse to release source code. Hard to trust something as important as notes to an opaque app.

It's built with Electron so not entirely opaque. Car manufacturers don't release their source code either, yet people trust something as important as their life to it daily.

> Car manufacturers don't release their source code either, yet people trust something as important as their life to it daily.

I personally find it extremely disturbing. Two bads don't make a good.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#165

Post by CrypticShift »

So the author is keeping notes in a flat hierarchy and then using the graph.

He stated that the goal is "greater understanding," and then he just (in all honesty) states that the nice graphical topology represents my learning journey and keeps me motivated.

That is exactly the problem: motivation and a history of learning do not always lead to "greater understanding." On the contrary, I find that our 'notes' are often transient while our internal understanding morphs subtly yet swiftly (especially when learning something new).

That is why I think 'organic linking' works better for very large AND more definitive content. Wikipedia is the best example.

For personal use, I prefer more structure. The outliner/database combo (like logseq) is the best tool for that.

And Frankly as long as I can easily download my data in a readable format, I'm OK with any tool. It does not have to be built as plain text files.

But I do like Obsidian :)

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#166

Post by smusamashah »

dustincoates wrote: post #41

I like Obsidian, too, having recently switched over from 9 years of OneNote (the fact that there's a tool to import my OneNote notes helped a lot). The most important tip for getting started with Obsidian, in my mind, is to absolutely ignore all of the Obsidian "power users." I'm 99% convinced that no one actually uses zettelkasten seriously, but even if so, it's overkill for when you're just checking out the app. An…

As a OneNote person for two years now, how do you deal with the added friction of linear notes in Obsidian (or any other plaintext based tool)?

In OneNote I can just dump down anything literally anywhere (because each page is an infinite canvas). It feels as easy as having a pen and random free papers. But with my notes increasing, I do want to have some way to manage this data which OneNote fails at. I can do basic text/OCR search but that's it. There is no linking etc. All note management is manual.

I usually search for an actual open source OneNote alternative (with easy jottable infinite canvases) every 6 months or so. Obsidian has added Canvases but they are definitely not a OneNote alternative at the moment.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#167

Post by poulpy123 »

rocky_raccoon wrote: post #147

What is the best option for cross-device syncing when you're using, e.g. - an iPhone - Google Workspace (+ Google Drive) - Multiple desktops/laptops - Dropbox Is there a single solution that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

I'm using https://github.com/vrtmrz/obsidian-livesync with IBM cloudant as described by the documentation. It handle my android phone, a windows laptop, a windows desktop and a linux desktop

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#168

Post by subpixel »

I struggled with Obsidian especially b/c repeatedly creating files and futzing around in the UI to name and move them felt wrong.

I landed on Workflowy which has it's own quirks but has seen a lot of improvement since I last kicked the tires, including mirroring etc.

It does a great job of staying out of the way so I can just get notes done.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#169

Post by hiAndrewQuinn »

Tomte wrote: post #155
hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's what caused me to pick it. Selling usage for commercial use is a smart move, and I want to ensure the original developers are incentivized to keep working on the product.

That didn‘t work so much for Dynalist.

This one? https://dynalist.io/

Looks like it's still alive and kicking. I guess you're probably upset by a lack of updates or something - luckily upgrading to a paid plan would be a good way to incentivize whoever is developing it to continue working on it, at least at the margin.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#170

Post by KolenCh »

dustincoates wrote: post #41

I like Obsidian, too, having recently switched over from 9 years of OneNote (the fact that there's a tool to import my OneNote notes helped a lot). The most important tip for getting started with Obsidian, in my mind, is to absolutely ignore all of the Obsidian "power users." I'm 99% convinced that no one actually uses zettelkasten seriously, but even if so, it's overkill for when you're just checking out the app. An…

One tip I’d have is to go easy on plugins. One can try to explores what are available, but when committing (to have it enabled and relying on it) be cautious about its implications on performance and startup time (there is a setting that can show you plugin load time at every startup.)

And as you scales the number of plugins and files, test it on multiple platforms.

P.S. I learn this the hard way that each time I open Obsidian on iPhone (14 Pro which is not slow) it will hangs indefinitely without being able to open a file. On iPadOS it is ok albeit slow to start. I suspect it is related to having too many files (including git and git sub modules) inside and relying on iCloud sync. But basically I tested out things works great on Mac without constantly checking how well it works on iPhone and then now I’m in a situation it’s difficult to roll back some of the decisions I made.

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