this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2023
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Up to now I've been using Simplenote, which has a Linux client (but also Android & iOS) & supports live collaboration on notes. However, Simplenote hasn't had a meaningful update for a long time, & it's recently been behaving strangely, e.g. notes undeleting themselves, line duplications & undeletions.

Can anyone recommend an alternative? Spinning up an ownCloud/nextcloud instance just to use Joplin feels a little overkill. I stumbled across turtl, but the project looks abandoned.

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[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Joplin has multiple sync options. Other than Nextcloud, you can use OneDrive, Dropbox, and they have a subscription service as well.

Obsidian is another to look at, but you need to either pay for sync or bring your own sync (~~though I don't know that you can sync to mobile without using their sync~~ edit: see below comment by @fossisfun@lemmy.ml that explains how to do it).

I think it's probably helpful to know if sync across platforms is important to you, and if so, whether you're willing to pay for it. I'm not sure that there are really many alternatives to an app provided for free with free syncing - that costs money to provide and honestly I'd be a bit dubious about using a service like that.

[–] fossisfun@lemmy.ml 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

You can select a local folder in Obsidian for Android and sync the folder with Syncthing. You can even revoke network permissions for Obsidian and it all works completely offline (Flatpak override: --unshare=network / GrapheneOS: don't allow the network permission).

This is my current setup, even though Obsidian is not FOSS. I like that it stores standard Markdown files in a traditional filesystem hierarchy, instead of what Joplin does with using Markdown files as a database. This means that with Obsidian I can use any text editor or any other Markdown app to access and edit my notes, whereas with Joplin I would have to export them first to standard Markdown and then potentially rename and reorganise all the files and their attachments.

[–] Xephopiqua@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Unfortunately with iOS you are stuck with Obsidian Sync because Syncthing does not work because of the permission model. Otherwise I prefer Obsidian over Joplin for the above mentioned reasons and nice extension ecosystem. It's easy to get your files out of Obsidian, no vendor lock-in

[–] jvrava9@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Möbius sync is a Syncthing client for iOS. I have the same setup as Foss Is Fun and everything works very well

[–] FreeLunch@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I am also using iOS with Möbius Sync and it is working quite well. The sync is not running all the time in the background due to iOS restrictions but it is running multiple times per day on my device.

The option to sync folders was only introduced this year. It costs about 5$ one time payment.

[–] krissen@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Syncing over iCloud drive works well (Obsidian, iOS).

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[–] FreeLunch@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There will be many conversion tools for Joplin to other structures. So I guess the format is a non issue.

[–] fossisfun@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Joplin has export options itself, but I just don't like how Joplin manages notes on a filesystem. If it can be done nicely (see Obsidian), why bother with something needlessly complex (file structure, need to sync with the filesystem, etc.)?

But everyone has different requirements and for the right person, Joplin can certainly be a good solution. ;)

[–] xaxl@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Joplin explains on their website that it's for preformance that they use a database rather than flat files.

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[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 year ago
[–] sapo@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's also plenty of FOSS obsidianlikes. Logseq looks promising, but I'm sticking with Obsidian because I rely a lot on some of the extensions.

Either way, migrating is as easy as opening the same folder in one app or the other, so you might as well try.

[–] fossisfun@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

I didn't know about Logseq! Looks really interesting and since there's a Flatpak available, I'll give it a try. Thanks for mentioning it!

[–] beeng@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Git clone with something like Termux on Android ? Bit of hassle, but you can make a desktop shortcut with bash scripts to make it easier.

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[–] omgitsaheadcrab@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Emacs + orgmode + org-capture + deft + orgzly + syncthing

Sexy Stallman pose

[–] pmarcilus@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 year ago

Based and emacspilled

[–] lukas@lemmy.haigner.me 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
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[–] sem@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

True answer.

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[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Obsidian is a brilliant note app, it's free provided you setup your cloud sync solution (I use syncthing) as it just creates .md files that you can do whatever you want with

[–] LunchEnjoyer@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Obsidian sadly isn't open source though.

[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No it's not, but it is incredibly consumer friendly

[–] deeznutz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Indeed. Everything is stored in plain markdown files you can move around and edit elsewhere. I'd like to use a FOSS alternative when I can, but second best is something I can easily jump ship from and not lose data.

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[–] Templa@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Obsidian is not open source

[–] sxan@midwest.social 13 points 1 year ago

I just sync a directory called "Notes" everywhere and use whatever text editor is most comfortable on any given platform to edit Markdown documents. Helix on desktop, Markor (or, increasingly, Simple Text Editor) on Android. For checklists, same thing except I use todo.txt for the file format, and the todo script on the desktop and Simpletask on Android.

I have been looking for a self-hosted, concurrent collaborative web editor, as asking my wife to write Markdown is a bit much, and the syncing becomes more complex, but I haven't settled on something.

[–] LunchEnjoyer@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Here's a few I've been trying lately,

  • Anytype.io
  • Standard Notes
  • Trillium
  • Notesnook
  • Logseq

I tried all for an extended period of time and landed with Anytype being the best for my needs. It's quite new on the market but has a super pleasing UI, very secure and is based in Switzerland 🇨🇭

[–] snowfalldreamland@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Anytype looks interesting but it looks like most of it is non-free non-opensource software:

While our core solutions, the infrastructure protocol any-sync, and the data protocol any-block, are released as open source under the permissive MIT license, we distribute the remaining layers, including the middleware library any-heart, and applications like anytype-js, anytype-swift, and anytype-kotlin, under the Any Source Available License. This license grants individuals the freedom to review, modify, and utilize the code for personal, academic, scientific, research, and development purposes. However, for commercial use, consent from the Any Association is required.

from https://blog.anytype.io/our-open-philosophy/

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[–] Ritsu4Life@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Logseq good alternative to obsidian Use syncthink or save the files to drive for syncing

[–] harl3k1n@feddit.de 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Maybe Notesnook? There's a free version and they also offer a payed plan if you need more options.

[–] FarLine99@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

Notesnook looks really promising!

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[–] Minty95@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

For note taking, Joplin is pretty good, in fact I went from Simplenote to Evernote (over kill and not free) to Joplin using Dropbox for the syncing (syncing is done by Joplin, so you don't need a 'syncing' app) between my PCs, all Linux and my Android phone. Simple to set up and free. I do not use it as a Journal as that is extremely poor, but for notes, it's perfect

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[–] fossisfun@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You don't need your own server to use Joplin. You can select a local directory to store your notes and sync this directory with Syncthing between devices.

I am not sure if this works with iOS though.

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[–] pH3ra@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Joplin + Syncthing is great, as other people suggested.
I keep it even more simple: I write stuff in markdown, share my .md files with Syncthing and edit them with markdown editors.
The best I've tried so far for Android is Markor, while on Linux I either use Ghostwriter (on KDE) or Marker (on Gnome)

[–] fhein@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

If you want a really fancy markdown note-taking app try obsidian.md. Unfortunately not FOSS so perhaps not the solution for OP, but free for non-commercial use in case anyone else is interested.

[–] pH3ra@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago

Unfortunately not FOSS

That's all I had to hear

[–] jmf@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

Nice foss alternative to obsidian is Logseq. Not completely feature for feature, but still very cool and powerful. I use it daily.

[–] radioactiveradio@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

Just sync .text or .md files using syncthing. Total control!

[–] ominouslemon@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Notesnook and Standard Notes are really good. Both are end-to-end encrypted and FOSS.

Every other app and solution I've tried is kinda janky, e.g. using Dropbox, git, Syntching or some other app to sync across devices. I want an all-in-one, encrypted, cloud-based, FOSS solution.

I've been using Standard Notes for some years now and I'm pretty happy with it.

Biggest issue with Joplin is that it doesn't store the actual markdown in files that I can see. You're basically screwed if you ever want to move to a different product.

[–] observantTrapezium@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

Agree about Joplin. No need for a full NextCloud instance, I use the WebDAV option which Apache has pretty much out of the box.

[–] AzureCerulean@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

TiddlyWiki — a non-linear personal web notebook

TiddlyWiki, a unique non-linear notebook for capturing, organising and sharing complex information Use it to keep your to-do list, to plan an essay or novel, or to organise your wedding. Record every thought that crosses your brain, or build a flexible and responsive website.

TiddlyWiki lets you choose where to keep your data, guaranteeing that in the decades to come you will still be able to use the notes you take today.

https://tiddlywiki.com/

[–] codecarter@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Trilium with trilium web clipper plugin, moememos with its web plugin and linkding with its plug in. Been able to keep up with all notes with this trio

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[–] astrsk@artemis.camp 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Obsidian and a shared Dropbox/Google Drive/OneDrive folder?

[–] png@artemis.camp 4 points 1 year ago

Obsidian isnt FOSS sadly, but still very good and you own your files

[–] Either6393@lemmy.one 3 points 1 year ago

I've been using silverbullet.md but it's self hosted

[–] FrankTheHealer@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I use Joplin synced over Nextcloud.

Standard Notes is pretty good too

[–] o1o12o21@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I have been using QOwnNotes for about 6 months. It is cross platform, lightweight, extensible and a plain-text markdown note-taking program written in C++/Qt. It can integrate with Nextcloud. Installable via scoop on Window and apt on Debian† (after installing their apt key).

Author is quite responsive on GH issues.

† Also most major Unixes

[–] Blaiz0r@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago
[–] -spam-@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Been using Joplin for ages, absolutely no dramas with it at all.

[–] FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

I use Trilium

[–] bear@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 year ago

If you want it to be truly multiplat and want to control it, you either need a self-hosted web service (simple as a basic wiki or as complex as nextcloud) or just sync plaintext markdown files and use an editor on each platform. Anything else and you'll just eventually end up in the same situation.

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