4 ms·

Install Docmost – open-source Notion Clone

64 points by vijeet_ 2y ago

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
evanjrowley 2y ago
Does docmost support tags? I'm curious of how information stored in it could be queried.
- mkl 2y ago
  Last I checked it out, no tags, but aiming for good full text search. I would like tags too.
bdemirkir 2y ago
One of the most used feature of the Notion is databases. This Notion Clone doesn't have that feature yet.
- thisconnect 2y ago
  What does databases do?
  - Refusing23 2y ago
    It works much like a "simple" database you can make tables, with headers and data. so if youre a team you can make tasks, and then another one for team members then you can combine the two, so basically assign people to tasks and easily filter through them using the notion gui or you can do simple things like your own tasks, add books to a "books i've read" collection, or whatever. https://www.notion.so/help/intro-to-databases https://www.notion.so/help/intro-to-databases and of course you can then easily take data from the db, and put them into your notes as well, at least if i recall. i've only used notion a tiny bit
  - slightwinder 2y ago
    They hold organized data and have integrations and views for those data. It's nothing fancy like a mature sql-database-system, but you have different high-level views you can configure through the interface. So you can make tables with filters, a kanban, calendar, timeline and some more[1]. People use it for task-lists, project-management, to manage their movie and book-lists, etc. [1] https://www.notion.so/de-de/help/guides/when-to-use-each-type-of-database-view https://www.notion.so/de-de/help/guides/when-to-use-each-typ...
- kthartic 2y ago
  I don't know anyone that uses this feature or has mentioned it. Admittedly most of the people I know that use Notion are non-tech
  - input_sh 2y ago
    Pretty much every template includes a database.
  - thothsscribe 2y ago
    If they use any table or any of the features where there are a group of objects (pages) that have different status or properties, they are using databases. It's pretty much something you accidentally create and use in notion without knowing unless all you are doing is writing documents.
  - nacs 2y ago
    I'm in tech and don't use it either.. Citation needed on OPs "most people".
    - bdemirkir 2y ago
      Anything needs to be shown on a table, calendar, etc. is a database. It doesn't matter if user deliberately uses it or not. One can have a look at all the Notion's templates (https://www.notion.so/templates https://www.notion.so/templates). All featured templates have databases. I also looked at all categories and their front pages filled with templates /w databases. Maybe 1 per category without it.
      - nacs 2y ago
        That's great but not every note taking program requires a database to attach metadata. I personally use Obsidian and it has support for all kinds of templates/metadata/tagging etc without a standalone database feature.
- fabifabulous 2y ago
  Thank you! I can‘t stand that each week I come across some „Notion alternative“ of which none offer databases, except for Anytype. Without that, those „Notion alternatives“ are just alternatives to plain text note taking apps. And there‘s plenty to choose from already.
BoredPositron 2y ago
App looks fine for a multiplayer notes app but I hate the marketing. "open source XYZ clone" when they are lacking essential features of XYZ, it's clickbait.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
  Someone else pointed out “databases”, which appears to be a vague all encompassing term for a bunch of features. Care to elaborate on which missing features you consider to be table stakes?
  - input_sh 2y ago
    Yes, it's vague because it's quite a fundamental part of Notion. There's no way to describe that feature separately from Notion. Tables, Kanban boards, gallery views, subpages... everything you can't do in basic markdown is powered by a Notion database.
    - popcalc 2y ago
      Most of what you mentioned exists in Obsidian.
      - Refusing23 2y ago
        but obsidian aint open source though at least its free and files are stored locally
      - slightwinder 2y ago
        The level of quality and integration is very different. And obsidian only has it through plugins which can die any day and become useless, which happens quite often. Notion has it as a fundamental part of it's concept, and is constantly improving on it.
      - input_sh 2y ago
        With about a dozen plugins and hours of messing around? Sure. Out of the box? Absolutely not. And I feel pretty confident saying that, knowing that this is by far the most popular page on my personal website: https://input.sh/replicating-notions-tables-with-obsidian-plugins/ https://input.sh/replicating-notions-tables-with-obsidian-pl...
awinter-py 2y ago
1 amazing work, but 2, zooming out: OSS at some point forgot that the web + hosted UX is great for saas companies because they can more easily charge rent. But the web isn't great for building input UX (it's all bloat + jank and you have to completely reimplement the input elements to do anything useful, on top of shifting sand). moving UX back to desktop thin clients would be leapfrog innovation over the saas companies. I include things like MS word as a 'thin client'. MS word 2003 was more responsive than any web interface for just typing. slack has like 2 features and is still somehow sinking into the ocean unless you have a supercomputer because of electron. the data can be shared or backed up somehow sure; that's just file hosting with a collaboration layer maybe. but desktop UX would be a superpower for any tool that needs powerful input
- emrah 2y ago
  While you have valid points, from a dev perspective, desktop UX is just as much shifting sand and land mines, which fuels the move to the browser for better or worse
- phalangion 2y ago
  I think your use of "thin client" here is literally redefining a thin client to be the opposite. The thick client software of MS Word does all the things locally, which is part of what makes it responsive.
  - actionfromafar 2y ago
    What could have made it responsive.
- IshKebab 2y ago
  Then you have to deal with automatic updates, multiple platforms, data synchronisation, etc. Rent-charging isn't the only reason to use the web, especially for an application like this.
- jitl 2y ago
  To be competitive with SaaS, open source software needs to have a web version because there’s so much less friction to use web software compared to desktop software. So desktop thick clients with native UI need to be maintained in addition to, not instead of, a web UI. Most open source options barely have the resources to build a web UI, asking also for a thick client for each user operating system platform seems unrealistic.
mkl 2y ago
Big discussion three weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40832146 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40832146. Ignore the "Notion clone" branding and view it as its own thing. I tried it out in docker and quite like it. Running it on my Linux PC I can access it from other devices anywhere through ZeroTier. It's still early stage software, and lacks easy robust backups, so I'm not ready to rely on it for anything important, but I'm hopeful.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

64 points by vijeet_ 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

evanjrowley 2y ago

Does docmost support tags? I'm curious of how information stored in it could be queried.

mkl 2y ago
Last I checked it out, no tags, but aiming for good full text search. I would like tags too.

bdemirkir 2y ago

One of the most used feature of the Notion is databases. This Notion Clone doesn't have that feature yet.

thisconnect 2y ago
What does databases do?
- Refusing23 2y ago
  It works much like a "simple" database you can make tables, with headers and data. so if youre a team you can make tasks, and then another one for team members then you can combine the two, so basically assign people to tasks and easily filter through them using the notion gui or you can do simple things like your own tasks, add books to a "books i've read" collection, or whatever. https://www.notion.so/help/intro-to-databases https://www.notion.so/help/intro-to-databases and of course you can then easily take data from the db, and put them into your notes as well, at least if i recall. i've only used notion a tiny bit
- slightwinder 2y ago
  They hold organized data and have integrations and views for those data. It's nothing fancy like a mature sql-database-system, but you have different high-level views you can configure through the interface. So you can make tables with filters, a kanban, calendar, timeline and some more[1]. People use it for task-lists, project-management, to manage their movie and book-lists, etc. [1] https://www.notion.so/de-de/help/guides/when-to-use-each-type-of-database-view https://www.notion.so/de-de/help/guides/when-to-use-each-typ...
kthartic 2y ago
I don't know anyone that uses this feature or has mentioned it. Admittedly most of the people I know that use Notion are non-tech
- input_sh 2y ago
  Pretty much every template includes a database.
- thothsscribe 2y ago
  If they use any table or any of the features where there are a group of objects (pages) that have different status or properties, they are using databases. It's pretty much something you accidentally create and use in notion without knowing unless all you are doing is writing documents.
- nacs 2y ago
  I'm in tech and don't use it either.. Citation needed on OPs "most people".
  - bdemirkir 2y ago
    Anything needs to be shown on a table, calendar, etc. is a database. It doesn't matter if user deliberately uses it or not. One can have a look at all the Notion's templates (https://www.notion.so/templates https://www.notion.so/templates). All featured templates have databases. I also looked at all categories and their front pages filled with templates /w databases. Maybe 1 per category without it.
    - nacs 2y ago
      That's great but not every note taking program requires a database to attach metadata. I personally use Obsidian and it has support for all kinds of templates/metadata/tagging etc without a standalone database feature.
fabifabulous 2y ago
Thank you! I can‘t stand that each week I come across some „Notion alternative“ of which none offer databases, except for Anytype. Without that, those „Notion alternatives“ are just alternatives to plain text note taking apps. And there‘s plenty to choose from already.

BoredPositron 2y ago

App looks fine for a multiplayer notes app but I hate the marketing. "open source XYZ clone" when they are lacking essential features of XYZ, it's clickbait.

SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
Someone else pointed out “databases”, which appears to be a vague all encompassing term for a bunch of features. Care to elaborate on which missing features you consider to be table stakes?
- input_sh 2y ago
  Yes, it's vague because it's quite a fundamental part of Notion. There's no way to describe that feature separately from Notion. Tables, Kanban boards, gallery views, subpages... everything you can't do in basic markdown is powered by a Notion database.
  - popcalc 2y ago
    Most of what you mentioned exists in Obsidian.
    - Refusing23 2y ago
      but obsidian aint open source though at least its free and files are stored locally
    - slightwinder 2y ago
      The level of quality and integration is very different. And obsidian only has it through plugins which can die any day and become useless, which happens quite often. Notion has it as a fundamental part of it's concept, and is constantly improving on it.
    - input_sh 2y ago
      With about a dozen plugins and hours of messing around? Sure. Out of the box? Absolutely not. And I feel pretty confident saying that, knowing that this is by far the most popular page on my personal website: https://input.sh/replicating-notions-tables-with-obsidian-plugins/ https://input.sh/replicating-notions-tables-with-obsidian-pl...

awinter-py 2y ago

1 amazing work, but 2, zooming out: OSS at some point forgot that the web + hosted UX is great for saas companies because they can more easily charge rent. But the web isn't great for building input UX (it's all bloat + jank and you have to completely reimplement the input elements to do anything useful, on top of shifting sand). moving UX back to desktop thin clients would be leapfrog innovation over the saas companies. I include things like MS word as a 'thin client'. MS word 2003 was more responsive than any web interface for just typing. slack has like 2 features and is still somehow sinking into the ocean unless you have a supercomputer because of electron. the data can be shared or backed up somehow sure; that's just file hosting with a collaboration layer maybe. but desktop UX would be a superpower for any tool that needs powerful input

emrah 2y ago
While you have valid points, from a dev perspective, desktop UX is just as much shifting sand and land mines, which fuels the move to the browser for better or worse
phalangion 2y ago
I think your use of "thin client" here is literally redefining a thin client to be the opposite. The thick client software of MS Word does all the things locally, which is part of what makes it responsive.
- actionfromafar 2y ago
  What could have made it responsive.
IshKebab 2y ago
Then you have to deal with automatic updates, multiple platforms, data synchronisation, etc. Rent-charging isn't the only reason to use the web, especially for an application like this.
jitl 2y ago
To be competitive with SaaS, open source software needs to have a web version because there’s so much less friction to use web software compared to desktop software. So desktop thick clients with native UI need to be maintained in addition to, not instead of, a web UI. Most open source options barely have the resources to build a web UI, asking also for a thick client for each user operating system platform seems unrealistic.

mkl 2y ago

Big discussion three weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40832146 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40832146. Ignore the "Notion clone" branding and view it as its own thing. I tried it out in docker and quite like it. Running it on my Linux PC I can access it from other devices anywhere through ZeroTier. It's still early stage software, and lacks easy robust backups, so I'm not ready to rely on it for anything important, but I'm hopeful.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]