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There is so much wankery around Obsidian, it's so cringleworthty. Obsidian is a nice/fancy editor for markdown files. That's all it is really. People have cr

There is so much wankery around Obsidian, it's so cringleworthty. Obsidian is a nice/fancy editor for markdown files. That's all it is really. People have created so many addons to bolt so much stuff onto it, but that's all it is at its core. You can search your notes, you can tag them. Just use the _core_ addons of Obsidian. That's all you need. Then if you find you really are missing something, have a look in the community addons. You'll probably find what you want. But don't install Obsidian and then spend hours adding addons. You'll get overwhelmed, confused and wondering why all the Influenzers are saying it's CHANGED THEIR LIFE. It hasn't.

cloud_watching 1y ago
Obsidian is amazing because it is a notepad with pretty colors and the graph that gets everyone's attention. The graph is often the most overhyped and underused thing there. It looks complicated and that's the selling point of all that ecosystem around productivity systems and all that. The appearance of deep complexity and work. I love how many just ended up here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44864134 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44864134
- JonChesterfield 1y ago
  It's _also_ a notepad that runs on android and synchronises mostly successfully with machines elsewhere. I'm ignoring the plugins entirely but getting lots of use out of the text synchronisation across multiple machines.
  - muppetman 1y ago
    This is one thing I love about it too, Obsidian Sync is very well done and great for moving text files around the place easily.
    - dtkav 1y ago
      Obsidian Sync is a really solid (and complementary) product.
  - safety1st 1y ago
    I just have a notes folder in Syncthing and it seems to accomplish the same thing. Or is there more to Obsidian Sync that I don't know about?
    - pgorczak 1y ago
      It also syncs config and plugins
    - omnibrain 1y ago
      In the beginning I had my Obsidian folder in my iCloud, but had not so happy experiences regarding the conflict resolution.
    - dasil003 1y ago
      The WYSIWYG markdown editor and wiki links are what I like about it. I’m not into the whole plugin lifestyle that seems to be a thing among the “productivity” crowd.
    - zevon 1y ago
      This kind of file sync works but you can run into problems. Switching from one device to the other too fast and editing the same file can get you into trouble, for example. And all the other tradition file sync and conflict resolution issues in general. Also: If one of your devices runs iOS, you will probably have a bad/annoying day with any "sync your files outside the app you edit them in" solution.
- UltraSane 1y ago
  I really hate that article. Taskwarrior is infinitely better than a txt file. A txt file is the worst possible option for task management.
  - pqs 1y ago
    Now I'm using Emacs Howm for task management. It is based on text files and it is great. Org-mode is also great.
    - UltraSane 1y ago
      Looks a lot like taskwarrior.
    - aquariusDue 1y ago
      Also for anyone interested in trying Howm the guide for it was recently updated. https://github.com/Emacs101/howm-manual https://github.com/Emacs101/howm-manual The cool thing about Howm is that it's note-taking and task management for lazy people. It predates org-mode (but it also works with it nowadays) and has a distinct way of linking notes by way of go-to and come-from links, think saved search and automatic backlink respectively. Also the way tasks are displayed and surfaced is pretty neat too, the guide/manual goes more in-depth but if you find stuff like org-agenda too complex you'll appreciate Howm's way of tracking and managing tasks.
- matwood 1y ago
  I know it’s not the best place to end up, but I always end up back on Apple Notes. It’s has enough features, syncs across my devices, and is simple to use.
  - deafpolygon 1y ago
    Same here... after years, I keep coming back to Apple Notes.
wkat4242 1y ago
> There is so much wankery around Obsidian, it's so cringleworthty. Obsidian is a nice/fancy editor for markdown files. That's all it is really. People have created so many addons to bolt so much stuff onto it, but that's all it is at its core. You can search your notes, you can tag them. It is a simple markdown editor yes but it's the addons that make it so different. There's tons and tons of markdown notetaking apps, but this one just hit the right balance for me. End to End encryption, self-hosted livesync (I can see myself typing from another client), good mobile support, fast searching. Self-hosting is a must-have for me, even with end to end encryption. The one thing I miss is a bit more security on Android (it would be great if the app offered an option to hide its files from other apps by locating them in the app's private storage area). And for it to start quicker, it has to load a whole browser on every open because it's an electron app even on mobile. But overall it's great for me. Not earth-shattering but it just offers the right combination of features for me. I don't really see what the 'wankery' is. > Just use the _core_ addons of Obsidian. That's all you need. Then if you find you really are missing something, have a look in the community addons. You'll probably find what you want. For me there are several third party addons that are invaluable. The livesync plugin first of all, it's really great sync and fully self-hosted. This is quite a complex thing to get working and one where so many other apps fall down. ReadItLater for capturing websites is also pretty nice. And the copilot one for searching notes with RAG.
- direduck 1y ago
  > it would be great if the app offered an option to hide its files from other apps by locating them in the app's private storage area For what it's worth, you can do just that now. Not sure when it was introduced, but on the current Android version, you are prompted to select either "Device storage" or "App storage" when creating a new vault. You can also change the location of existing vaults from app to device and vice-versa. With that now available, the one thing missing for me is a biometric lock option. Or even any kind of locking at all. There's a community plugin for that, but it's quite unstable and no longer maintained.
  - wkat4242 1y ago
    Oh great! I didn't know that was an option <3 I'll have a look. I originally installed it a couple years ago when I bought my phone.
HSO 1y ago
yea how about you do you, and live and let live nobody cares what you think people "should" do

cloud_watching 1y ago

Obsidian is amazing because it is a notepad with pretty colors and the graph that gets everyone's attention. The graph is often the most overhyped and underused thing there. It looks complicated and that's the selling point of all that ecosystem around productivity systems and all that. The appearance of deep complexity and work. I love how many just ended up here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44864134 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44864134

JonChesterfield 1y ago
It's _also_ a notepad that runs on android and synchronises mostly successfully with machines elsewhere. I'm ignoring the plugins entirely but getting lots of use out of the text synchronisation across multiple machines.
- muppetman 1y ago
  This is one thing I love about it too, Obsidian Sync is very well done and great for moving text files around the place easily.
  - dtkav 1y ago
    Obsidian Sync is a really solid (and complementary) product.
- safety1st 1y ago
  I just have a notes folder in Syncthing and it seems to accomplish the same thing. Or is there more to Obsidian Sync that I don't know about?
  - pgorczak 1y ago
    It also syncs config and plugins
  - omnibrain 1y ago
    In the beginning I had my Obsidian folder in my iCloud, but had not so happy experiences regarding the conflict resolution.
  - dasil003 1y ago
    The WYSIWYG markdown editor and wiki links are what I like about it. I’m not into the whole plugin lifestyle that seems to be a thing among the “productivity” crowd.
  - zevon 1y ago
    This kind of file sync works but you can run into problems. Switching from one device to the other too fast and editing the same file can get you into trouble, for example. And all the other tradition file sync and conflict resolution issues in general. Also: If one of your devices runs iOS, you will probably have a bad/annoying day with any "sync your files outside the app you edit them in" solution.
UltraSane 1y ago
I really hate that article. Taskwarrior is infinitely better than a txt file. A txt file is the worst possible option for task management.
- pqs 1y ago
  Now I'm using Emacs Howm for task management. It is based on text files and it is great. Org-mode is also great.
  - UltraSane 1y ago
    Looks a lot like taskwarrior.
  - aquariusDue 1y ago
    Also for anyone interested in trying Howm the guide for it was recently updated. https://github.com/Emacs101/howm-manual https://github.com/Emacs101/howm-manual The cool thing about Howm is that it's note-taking and task management for lazy people. It predates org-mode (but it also works with it nowadays) and has a distinct way of linking notes by way of go-to and come-from links, think saved search and automatic backlink respectively. Also the way tasks are displayed and surfaced is pretty neat too, the guide/manual goes more in-depth but if you find stuff like org-agenda too complex you'll appreciate Howm's way of tracking and managing tasks.
matwood 1y ago
I know it’s not the best place to end up, but I always end up back on Apple Notes. It’s has enough features, syncs across my devices, and is simple to use.
- deafpolygon 1y ago
  Same here... after years, I keep coming back to Apple Notes.

wkat4242 1y ago

> There is so much wankery around Obsidian, it's so cringleworthty. Obsidian is a nice/fancy editor for markdown files. That's all it is really. People have created so many addons to bolt so much stuff onto it, but that's all it is at its core. You can search your notes, you can tag them. It is a simple markdown editor yes but it's the addons that make it so different. There's tons and tons of markdown notetaking apps, but this one just hit the right balance for me. End to End encryption, self-hosted livesync (I can see myself typing from another client), good mobile support, fast searching. Self-hosting is a must-have for me, even with end to end encryption. The one thing I miss is a bit more security on Android (it would be great if the app offered an option to hide its files from other apps by locating them in the app's private storage area). And for it to start quicker, it has to load a whole browser on every open because it's an electron app even on mobile. But overall it's great for me. Not earth-shattering but it just offers the right combination of features for me. I don't really see what the 'wankery' is. > Just use the _core_ addons of Obsidian. That's all you need. Then if you find you really are missing something, have a look in the community addons. You'll probably find what you want. For me there are several third party addons that are invaluable. The livesync plugin first of all, it's really great sync and fully self-hosted. This is quite a complex thing to get working and one where so many other apps fall down. ReadItLater for capturing websites is also pretty nice. And the copilot one for searching notes with RAG.

direduck 1y ago
> it would be great if the app offered an option to hide its files from other apps by locating them in the app's private storage area For what it's worth, you can do just that now. Not sure when it was introduced, but on the current Android version, you are prompted to select either "Device storage" or "App storage" when creating a new vault. You can also change the location of existing vaults from app to device and vice-versa. With that now available, the one thing missing for me is a biometric lock option. Or even any kind of locking at all. There's a community plugin for that, but it's quite unstable and no longer maintained.
- wkat4242 1y ago
  Oh great! I didn't know that was an option <3 I'll have a look. I originally installed it a couple years ago when I bought my phone.

HSO 1y ago

yea how about you do you, and live and let live nobody cares what you think people "should" do