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Obsidian in public beta
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Posted by Paul Korm
May 27, 2020 at 09:16 PM
Thought I’d start a new thread since Obsidian is no longer brochureware but is available publicly.
macOS / Windows / Linux—good to see developers supporting all nations from the get go.
Public beta available (no cost) at https://obsidian.md.
Discourse forum at https://forum.obsidian.md
Discord server at https://obsidian.md/community (start here rather than starting at Discord)
Posted by Luhmann
May 27, 2020 at 11:25 PM
I think it is important that people understand that even though it is in “public beta” and already has an impressive feature base, it is still very far from the finished product the developers have in mind. Probably the most noticeable change still to come is what they are calling the “WYSIWYG editor” - although in practice it is still unclear if it will look more like Typora (which hides all markdown code) or Bear (which displays some markdown code but gives it a pretty wrapping. Some features, like transcluding and displaying images currently only work in preview mode, but once the new editor is available they should hopefully work in the editor as well. There are other things that are still in the works as well, so that the final “1.0” release will be quite different from what is there now.
Personally, the current version (even with the daily journal plugin) cannot yet replace Roam for me, but I like the developers better than Roam’s, and I like the openness of the system, so I am rooting for them. I donated to support development and I hope others will too. I really want them to succeed.
Posted by Paul Korm
May 27, 2020 at 11:33 PM
ugh
Posted by avernet
May 29, 2020 at 05:30 AM
Luhmann wrote:
>[…] I like the developers better than
>Roam’s, and I like the openness of the system, so I am rooting for them.
Any particular gripe or concern about the Roam devs? (And I ask because I think I’d agree with on that how you feel about the team is quite important.)
‑Alex
Posted by satis
May 30, 2020 at 01:10 AM
Just downloaded the app. It seems quite fast but also very clumsy to navigate. It took me almost five minutes to import a Markdown file into the app: it requires the files to be inside the pre-established Obsidian document folder and won’t grab a file from anywhere else.
A lot of small additional complaints but I realize it’s still an early beta. For what it is it looks pretty interesting though. They say they hope to offer a Typora-like WYSIWYG experience eventually, which is my favorite way to use and view Markdown.
Ordinarily I’d pay $25 for the app to help it along, but I don’t know how much I’d use the app, especially now (or this year). And the yearly charges for e2ee and publishing (not yet available) seem a bit high, even if one does jump in on the early-bird pricing.
Between changes and coming or proposed changes to Obsidian, TiddlyWiki (with add-ons), Joplin, the org-roam project, and Trilium Notes it looks like Roam Reseach’s main Good Idea is being coöpted pretty quickly. I see on Twitter that Roam’s ceo is floating a potential 5-year discount price (still pricey at $500) to gauge interest.