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I’m sure you know that GitHub handles README.org files too. What’s the downside of using org for readmes?

• npsimons 3y ago
  > What’s the downside of using org for readmes? Popularity. That's it. orgmode format was around long before Markdown, then all of a sudden Markdown got pushed hard for some reason.
  • Jtsummers 3y ago
    > orgmode format was around long before Markdown That's not really true. org-mode (2003) and markdown (2004) only have a year between them. Markdown was pushed more broadly (versus org-mode) because it was not tied to a specific implementation in a specific editor and was just for marking up text whereas org-mode was meant to tie in with more of emacs' other packages and capabilities. If you weren't already using emacs, you likely wouldn't have known of org-mode in the late '00s. Markdown had already been incorporated into a lot of static blogging systems and forum comment systems by then with many independent implementations. Additionally, org-mode wasn't made a default element of emacs until 2006, two years after markdown was publicly documented. All that said, I still prefer org-mode and use it for my own readmes outside of actual work where I stick to markdown.
• abdullahkhalids 3y ago
  I have yet to have a collaborator who uses emacs, let alone org mode. Best to provide people open source stuff in the format they are familiar with. I wouldn't want learning the org format be an impediment to contributing to a project.