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In which way does Obsidian "create value and extract structure and knowledge from your Markdown files"? I tried it a few months ago because of all the hype, an

In which way does Obsidian "create value and extract structure and knowledge from your Markdown files"? I tried it a few months ago because of all the hype, and from a quick try I didn't see anything useful that my current choice (Joplin) didn't have, but from what you are saying, maybe I didn't try for long enough? I like Joplin, one of its strong points being that it's open source, but I'd be willing to switch if an alternative really adds value.

Brajeshwar 3y ago
I like Obsidian on the Desktop and not much on the phone where I like iA Writer. As I manage the files and synced, I can use anything to access the files. I can use iA Writer on the Mobile and still access my files, while I edit that on Obsidian on the Desktop. Sometimes, I just open the whole folder in Sublime Text and start editing it or use Draw/Excalidraw to work on something. Obsidian being the primary but I'm not limited. My reasoning is to approach contents as data-first with tools on the top. Obsidian happens to be one such brilliant tool for now.
- bayindirh 3y ago
  iA writer is a great tool for focused writing. I use it for authoring my blog posts, and it's "filler detection" does wonders.
bayindirh 3y ago
> In which way does Obsidian "create value and extract structure and knowledge from your Markdown files"? It's search is extremely fast, plus with a bit of metadata, you can pack tons of information into a standard markdown file. Moreover, when you start to add more and more knowledge, you start to connect notes to each other, which creates a Zettelkasten-like connected notes web. I write gigantic notes generally, but even they have connections, and again the searching for linking is so instant, you can write at the speed of thought. I have a simple tree note organization scheme, and Obsidian can handle it extremely well, plus files are open on the filesystem. I can unleash another tool on top of that file tree, if I want to edit or analyze them. I still use Evernote for some personal notes, and Joplin is just the same thing, and its limitations on file/note organization is very limiting for my needs. Lastly, Obsidian vaults are completely isolated from each other, so the vault which I manage my small digital garden is completely isolated from my work vault. They are on different places, sycned differently, can have different plugins, etc. This is a very nice feature. TL;DR: Obsidian is a pure "knowledge/documentation" management tool and allows for creation at the speed of thought. It's unobtrusive and Markdown metadata is extremely powerful. Also leveraging internote-connections supercharges Obsidian.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago
  I tried logseq and obsidian and I'd argue the opposite, obsidian does everything while logseq is good at structuring your text and querying it. The thing i missed the most is the outline style, where every block can be queried and nested bloxks inherit tags from parent blocks. Huge for note taking
  - bayindirh 3y ago
    I think that's a fair take, and I believe everybody's brain works a little differently. This is why I'm a big believer of horses for courses approach about everything in life. If logseq works better for you, more power to you. I believe and love huge text files with tons information, so Obsidian and similar tools works better for me.
    - Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago
      Sorry I shouldn't have come through as "obsidian is worse", that's not the intent, my point was mostly about "obsidian does everything because it has plugins". I do have a reason for avoiding obsidian, which is the one I outlined, but your case is totally legit AND a good reason for choosing obsidian over logseq. The outline vs non-outline is really the big difference between the two. I'm not sure if it's possible to have both approaches in a single editor given the huge difference in behavior
      - bayindirh 3y ago
        Hey, I didn’t read your comment as “obsidian is worse”, but “logseq’s way of operation/thinking fits me better”. Yes, Obsidian has tons of plugins, but I use exactly none of them. The features they add is immense, but I need none of them, because I just write tons of long text files, not dissimilar to old, long text files ubiquitous on the web in the early days (think https://computer.rip https://computer.rip style writings, but as technical docs). The difference between the two is very fundamental as you say, one has an internal database while the other runs on simple Markdown files with minimal extra data on top (except search and index Obsidian keeps internally per vault). Again, there’s no hard feelings, just a hat tip to the diversity of our brains, way of thinking and creativity of people for devising these different ideas regarding knowledge management. :)

Brajeshwar 3y ago

I like Obsidian on the Desktop and not much on the phone where I like iA Writer. As I manage the files and synced, I can use anything to access the files. I can use iA Writer on the Mobile and still access my files, while I edit that on Obsidian on the Desktop. Sometimes, I just open the whole folder in Sublime Text and start editing it or use Draw/Excalidraw to work on something. Obsidian being the primary but I'm not limited. My reasoning is to approach contents as data-first with tools on the top. Obsidian happens to be one such brilliant tool for now.

bayindirh 3y ago
iA writer is a great tool for focused writing. I use it for authoring my blog posts, and it's "filler detection" does wonders.

bayindirh 3y ago

> In which way does Obsidian "create value and extract structure and knowledge from your Markdown files"? It's search is extremely fast, plus with a bit of metadata, you can pack tons of information into a standard markdown file. Moreover, when you start to add more and more knowledge, you start to connect notes to each other, which creates a Zettelkasten-like connected notes web. I write gigantic notes generally, but even they have connections, and again the searching for linking is so instant, you can write at the speed of thought. I have a simple tree note organization scheme, and Obsidian can handle it extremely well, plus files are open on the filesystem. I can unleash another tool on top of that file tree, if I want to edit or analyze them. I still use Evernote for some personal notes, and Joplin is just the same thing, and its limitations on file/note organization is very limiting for my needs. Lastly, Obsidian vaults are completely isolated from each other, so the vault which I manage my small digital garden is completely isolated from my work vault. They are on different places, sycned differently, can have different plugins, etc. This is a very nice feature. TL;DR: Obsidian is a pure "knowledge/documentation" management tool and allows for creation at the speed of thought. It's unobtrusive and Markdown metadata is extremely powerful. Also leveraging internote-connections supercharges Obsidian.

Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago
I tried logseq and obsidian and I'd argue the opposite, obsidian does everything while logseq is good at structuring your text and querying it. The thing i missed the most is the outline style, where every block can be queried and nested bloxks inherit tags from parent blocks. Huge for note taking
- bayindirh 3y ago
  I think that's a fair take, and I believe everybody's brain works a little differently. This is why I'm a big believer of horses for courses approach about everything in life. If logseq works better for you, more power to you. I believe and love huge text files with tons information, so Obsidian and similar tools works better for me.
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago
    Sorry I shouldn't have come through as "obsidian is worse", that's not the intent, my point was mostly about "obsidian does everything because it has plugins". I do have a reason for avoiding obsidian, which is the one I outlined, but your case is totally legit AND a good reason for choosing obsidian over logseq. The outline vs non-outline is really the big difference between the two. I'm not sure if it's possible to have both approaches in a single editor given the huge difference in behavior
    - bayindirh 3y ago
      Hey, I didn’t read your comment as “obsidian is worse”, but “logseq’s way of operation/thinking fits me better”. Yes, Obsidian has tons of plugins, but I use exactly none of them. The features they add is immense, but I need none of them, because I just write tons of long text files, not dissimilar to old, long text files ubiquitous on the web in the early days (think https://computer.rip https://computer.rip style writings, but as technical docs). The difference between the two is very fundamental as you say, one has an internal database while the other runs on simple Markdown files with minimal extra data on top (except search and index Obsidian keeps internally per vault). Again, there’s no hard feelings, just a hat tip to the diversity of our brains, way of thinking and creativity of people for devising these different ideas regarding knowledge management. :)