6 ms·

Plex is one of the reasons I now always choose open source over closed source but free as in beer. They start out great but as financial constraints creep in t

Plex is one of the reasons I now always choose open source over closed source but free as in beer. They start out great but as financial constraints creep in the compromises are made that create a very unpleasant experience. For example, I'd love to use Obsidian, which is an amazing app, but who knows what will happen to it in the future.

jghn 4y ago
With Obsidian the thing that made me ok with this was it's all just markdown. I have all my data stored locally in an ubiquitous file format
- qudat 4y ago
  This is the primary motivating factor for why I like https://prose.sh https://prose.sh You store your markdown files locally and then copy them to your hosted blog.
  - Vrondi 4y ago
    Just like Obsidian, right?
    - qudat 4y ago
      Yep except instead of it being a note-taking app, it's a blog platform.
- colordrops 4y ago
  But there's an entire workflow embedded in the use of Obsidian. It's not "just markdown". That's like saying you could move from vscode to notepad because it's "just text".
  - ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago
    Yup and that is my problem with startups like supabase too. I have just started using pocketbase for that reason.
    - r-bar 4y ago
      How does supabase not qualify as open source? Their stack is primarily comprised of other independent open source projects. The one component that isn't is their "realtime" server that serves updates from postgres' WAL over websockets, but that is open sourced[0] under Apache 2.0. From my understanding the primary part that has not been open sourced is their database browser / web UI. There are plenty of alternative management tools for postgres though. As you can export your database what else would you need to ensure your portability and independence? Granted they make their docs fairly opaque for trying to self host. Presumably to encourage you to just use their hosted service. Hosting open sourced projects seems like a very ecosystem friendly way of monetizing. [0] https://github.com/supabase/realtime https://github.com/supabase/realtime
      - kiwicopple 4y ago
        > From my understanding the primary part that has not been open sourced is their database browser / web UI. FYI, this is also open source: https://github.com/supabase/supabase/tree/master/studio https://github.com/supabase/supabase/tree/master/studio
  - Aeolun 4y ago
    It’s not unreasonable to say I could build my own without having to reverse engineer the data format though. I only lose the convenience of Obsidian, not the data I spent years building.
    - jghn 4y ago
      Yeah this. Would it suck? Yes. Would I be as fucked as some other platforms? No.
  - brianzelip 4y ago
    What's the workflow beyond opening up the app and starting to type in a new or existing document?
    - colordrops 4y ago
      Your question is the equivalent to "how does Obsidian differ from a minimalist Markdown editor."
- YeBanKo 4y ago
  I don’t use Obsidian, but their bustiness model seems simple and honest. Hopefully, I think the worst that can happen is that they will get acquired by a larger company to be sunset.
- jannes 4y ago
  lol, wasn't it the same with Plex? They just built lots of features around locally stored data.
  - ViViDboarder 4y ago
    Exactly. Actually, this blog post is about how it’s not very painful to migrate.
CobaltFire 4y ago
I posted about Foam, an open source alternative to Obsidian that run in VSCode, just yesterday [0]. It can work interoperable with Obsidian on the same files and folders, if that's your preference. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33561876 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33561876
dmitriid 4y ago
> I now always choose open source over closed source but free as in beer. > They start out great but as financial constraints creep in Funny how you talk about financial constraints, and still refuse to pay for software.
- 10729287 4y ago
  Paying won't guarantee you the soft you pay for won't switch business model for subscription, or sell to a bigger company that will extinguish it.
  - dmitriid 4y ago
    Not paying for software all but guarantees that it will be abandoned at one point. People want to eat, after all. (The dichotomy between "I must earn a gazillion dollars because I'm a senior dev" and "I will not pay money (that pays those salaries) for software" that's so prevalent on HN is mind boggling)
    - colordrops 4y ago
      Yes Linux and Vim are dead. There are also no other examples of long lived open source projects that are free.
      - dmitriid 4y ago
        Linux is primarily developed by large corporations. And there are significantly more projects that have stagnated and disappeared than those that survived.
        colordrops 4y ago
        Whether a project is free or not is not the only consideration as to whether I adopt it for my workflow, just a core one.
  - flatiron 4y ago
K_REY_C 4y ago
Logseq is what I use for that reason. https://logseq.com/ https://logseq.com/
withoutclass 4y ago
Org Roam calls to thee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyhPmypHDEw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyhPmypHDEw

jghn 4y ago

With Obsidian the thing that made me ok with this was it's all just markdown. I have all my data stored locally in an ubiquitous file format

qudat 4y ago
This is the primary motivating factor for why I like https://prose.sh https://prose.sh You store your markdown files locally and then copy them to your hosted blog.
- Vrondi 4y ago
  Just like Obsidian, right?
  - qudat 4y ago
    Yep except instead of it being a note-taking app, it's a blog platform.
colordrops 4y ago
But there's an entire workflow embedded in the use of Obsidian. It's not "just markdown". That's like saying you could move from vscode to notepad because it's "just text".
- ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago
  Yup and that is my problem with startups like supabase too. I have just started using pocketbase for that reason.
  - r-bar 4y ago
    How does supabase not qualify as open source? Their stack is primarily comprised of other independent open source projects. The one component that isn't is their "realtime" server that serves updates from postgres' WAL over websockets, but that is open sourced[0] under Apache 2.0. From my understanding the primary part that has not been open sourced is their database browser / web UI. There are plenty of alternative management tools for postgres though. As you can export your database what else would you need to ensure your portability and independence? Granted they make their docs fairly opaque for trying to self host. Presumably to encourage you to just use their hosted service. Hosting open sourced projects seems like a very ecosystem friendly way of monetizing. [0] https://github.com/supabase/realtime https://github.com/supabase/realtime
    - kiwicopple 4y ago
      > From my understanding the primary part that has not been open sourced is their database browser / web UI. FYI, this is also open source: https://github.com/supabase/supabase/tree/master/studio https://github.com/supabase/supabase/tree/master/studio
- Aeolun 4y ago
  It’s not unreasonable to say I could build my own without having to reverse engineer the data format though. I only lose the convenience of Obsidian, not the data I spent years building.
  - jghn 4y ago
    Yeah this. Would it suck? Yes. Would I be as fucked as some other platforms? No.
- brianzelip 4y ago
  What's the workflow beyond opening up the app and starting to type in a new or existing document?
  - colordrops 4y ago
    Your question is the equivalent to "how does Obsidian differ from a minimalist Markdown editor."
YeBanKo 4y ago
I don’t use Obsidian, but their bustiness model seems simple and honest. Hopefully, I think the worst that can happen is that they will get acquired by a larger company to be sunset.
jannes 4y ago
lol, wasn't it the same with Plex? They just built lots of features around locally stored data.
- ViViDboarder 4y ago
  Exactly. Actually, this blog post is about how it’s not very painful to migrate.

CobaltFire 4y ago

I posted about Foam, an open source alternative to Obsidian that run in VSCode, just yesterday [0]. It can work interoperable with Obsidian on the same files and folders, if that's your preference. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33561876 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33561876

dmitriid 4y ago

> I now always choose open source over closed source but free as in beer. > They start out great but as financial constraints creep in Funny how you talk about financial constraints, and still refuse to pay for software.

10729287 4y ago
Paying won't guarantee you the soft you pay for won't switch business model for subscription, or sell to a bigger company that will extinguish it.
- dmitriid 4y ago
  Not paying for software all but guarantees that it will be abandoned at one point. People want to eat, after all. (The dichotomy between "I must earn a gazillion dollars because I'm a senior dev" and "I will not pay money (that pays those salaries) for software" that's so prevalent on HN is mind boggling)
  - colordrops 4y ago
    Yes Linux and Vim are dead. There are also no other examples of long lived open source projects that are free.
    - dmitriid 4y ago
      Linux is primarily developed by large corporations. And there are significantly more projects that have stagnated and disappeared than those that survived.
      - colordrops 4y ago
        Whether a project is free or not is not the only consideration as to whether I adopt it for my workflow, just a core one.
- flatiron 4y ago

K_REY_C 4y ago

Logseq is what I use for that reason. https://logseq.com/ https://logseq.com/

withoutclass 4y ago

Org Roam calls to thee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyhPmypHDEw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyhPmypHDEw