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Why I Like Obsidian

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Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#251

Post by DiabloD3 »

jimmytucson wrote: post #181
antiframe wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are dismissing what people are telling you. Several have pointed out that Markdown is easier to read and write when taking notes. For example, lists where each item has an additional ~14 keystrokes per item, links which have an additional ~20 keystrokes. Your answer was that that doesn't matter. If that's your view, you are welcome to it, but that's why /other/ people choose Markdown over HTML for notes.

Not dismissing it at all. My original comment asks that very question. I was just wondering if there's anything else that Obsidian offers besides Markdown syntax, since hyperlinking documents and application-agnostic data formats are also features of HTML. I don't understand where all the feelings are coming from. :)

Because you're not actually caring to listen to what people are saying.

People do not find writing SGML-based formats ergonomic for focusing on the content of their writing. SGML-based formats are great for formats that need to be both human-readable, but also unambiguous and extensible for machine parsing, but awful when the task is purely just producing writing.

If I need HTML from my writings in Markdown, there are a plethora of tools to handle that; I don't need to waste vital brain bandwidth on writing perfect spec-complaint HTML when Markdown handles only the task of writing structured text and does it well.

Markdown does not handle layout, and barely handles tables. It is the technological equivalent of HTML 1.0, and does not contaminate itself with the task of presentation like how the evolution of HTML over the years has.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#253

Post by dist-epoch »

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…

Zettelkasten was created for a world which didn't have computers.

People are cargo-culting it today without thinking if it still makes sense.

Zettelkasten author would not have created it today, because it makes no sense when you have much more efficient ways to index/search information with a computer.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#254

Post by ssgodderidge »

theshrike79 wrote: post #245
ssgodderidge wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree. The barrier to using Obsidian can seem intimidatingly high before jumping in. I tried and failed a few different systems before I just started using the daily notes as scratch pads. From there, I figured out more and more slowly over time. I’m now at a kind of system that works for me, but probably won’t work for anyone else. This is the way.

Obsidian has the sama problem as Bullet Journaling does. It's really simple and not complicated unless you want it to be, but then you watch a video about one Mega User who is really into the System and get demoralised by the amount of crap and whizbangs you see.

yeah exactly. The problem is that the Mega Users are the ones who are most likely to share their system. People who say "I just use X as a notepad" aren't as likely to share.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#255

Post by dist-epoch »

justnotworthit wrote: post #232
crossroadsguy wrote: post #227

Whenever there's an Obsidian fanfare going on here on HN (and it happens quite often :P) I wonder around among the comments looking for a simple, minimal, and clean knife (or maybe a light bow and arrow) while people are discussing their AWPs, customised Dragunovs, and bespoke Abrams. Good fun :)

I've been waiting for and nvAlt/Resophnotes with image file support for 10 years.

I replaced Resophnotes with Obsidian, since I found Obsidian to be extremely similar.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#256

Post by theshrike79 »

paradite wrote: post #128

Currently using Joplin with self-hosted NextCloud WebDAV. It has a couple of minor UI/UX issues, even with the plugins. Anyone tried both? How does Obsidian compare against Joplin?

I moved from Joplin to Obsidian pretty much only because Obsidian has all the files as regular files.

Joplin has its own weird-ass database system.

It was also really janky 4 years ago when I used it, might've gotten better since.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#257

Post by jauntywundrkind »

aprdm wrote: post #195
jauntywundrkind wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Joplin having data in a db is a non-starter for me. The flat-file nature of Logseq makes it much easier for me to script/mine/garden my digital garden.

Hm really ? It easily exports to markdown, and scripting against sqlite is very straightforward too

The impedance feels unnecessary.

I want my data checked into git, and directly accessible. I don't feel like custom schemas and database drivers, as a user, do anything but make the operational loop painful.

I can quickly use any mdast library/toolkits and some terrible shell scripts to make anything possible in moments.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#258

Post by sevagh »

crossroadsguy wrote: post #227

Whenever there's an Obsidian fanfare going on here on HN (and it happens quite often :P) I wonder around among the comments looking for a simple, minimal, and clean knife (or maybe a light bow and arrow) while people are discussing their AWPs, customised Dragunovs, and bespoke Abrams. Good fun :)

I have a bludgeon. A permanently open markdown file with my life stuff in it (chores, ideas, projects, backburner, vacation plans). I think the closest is probably this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38733968

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#259

Post by barbazoo »

Anyone know of an alternative that stores data locally and looks and feels a bit more like Notion? The plain list like note view is just so ugly and when I create a new note I'd want it to be in the context of whatever I'm currently looking at, not at the root. I know about tags and the graph view but it's just not what I need.

There was a comment to a Notion related submission the other day that talked about something Notion like but self hosted, that's be fine too but I can't find it right now.

Re: Why I Like Obsidian

#260

Post by rchaud »

muwtyhg wrote: post #226
behnamoh wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried it a few times but had to stop because: 1. Obsidian imposes its own take on Markdown. For instance, why can't we disable "indent using the tab key"? It's so annoying to accidentally indent/quote text while pressing tab to do something like "accept autocomplete suggestion". Obsidian's response to users' complaints about this was not reassuring: https://forum.obsidian.md/t/option-to-disable-tab-to-indent/... 2.…

> Obsidian's response to users' complaints about this was not reassuring This is my main worry about choosing Obsidian for the long run. The devs seem very opinionated about a system that is meant to be customizable to each user's workflow. Their Vim implementation does not support setting hard line breaks, making modal editing a little funky (every paragraph is just one long line and any action working on a line wil…

I've also noticed that Obsidian hides text automatically inside of or other HTML elements if they contain the property "markdown='1'", thereby blocking you from writing perfectly valid HTML inside of a Markdown file which was designed to be HTML-compatible.
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