AppFlowy: an open-source alternative to Notion
github.com
github.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20200411185736/https://blog.tomm...
I guess the plan changed at some point. Additionally, any github link is default assumed to be FOSS, so it does help readers when it's pointed out that it is not.
Assuming any GitHub link is FOSS might get you into trouble eventually, there are a wide variety of licenses out there!
I was unaware that Roam is built atop Datomic. Just hearing that set off a huge light bulb, that there's some very competent information-engineering underneath Roam, that it builds atop. I'd heard some very sunny statements about Roam from engineers I respect a lot, but I've only briefly played around in Roam, and have been unsure why people would feel strongly about it, would say it stands out so starkly against what I felt like were competing personal information archives like Obsidian.
Anyhow, I'm even less well versed in the similar-but-different realm of what Notion is, what Notion is for. Another wiki-ish like substrate for work, collaboration, data, information; adjacent, but different. More collaboration oriented. But reading this in-depth discussion on Roam, it underscored to me that the application layer, the look and feel, the product: it's kind of the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath, the engine of information: that is definitional, is core. Bias beware, this totally validates what I want to hear, which is that software's highest & most principal role is to enable deep use/creation, empower further realms of through, enable creation of better purchases/views/perspectives. Applications all feel done & baked, but I crave software that embraces an unlimited, that is just a starting point, and this review of Roam's data structures whetted this dormant hope, seemed like a strong indicator that we ought be aiming software much higher than we have been.
It suggests strongly to me that the underlying object/entity architectures of software are of key importance, not just as how programmers write code, but as vital concepts to the users of the system. And it re-invigorates my hope that the big solid line between the two classes eventually starts to dissolve some, become hazier.
[1] https://www.zsolt.blog/2021/01/Roam-Data-Structure-Query.htm... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29295532 (8 days, 4 comments)
[2]
But.
There's room for -- no, stronger than that, there's a need for -- variations on a theme and an ecosystem of tools for thought that learn from each other and contribute to the rising tide that lifts all boats.
Athens is basically Roam only OSS; Roam's creator deigned to bless it as a "vassal app", but I wouldn't bet against its staying power based on the power of open source. And Obsidian (hands-down my favorite, and presumptive long-term foundation for my PKM system) offers a profound value proposition: start with offline, local, markdown files on the filesystem and OS of your choice, and layer in plugins to implement the best features of other tools at your discretion.
It does not support slash commands.
As a person who uses Notion primarily for myself, lack of multi-user support doesn't impact me, and does truly make this a potential alternative.
Products are sold based on what they hope to be, often not on what they are today. The merits of this approach can be debated, but I get why it's billed as such in the meantime.
Also, this is being posted quite too often to HN. Not sure if same people or different people.
Signing binaries on macOS is a bit of a pain though, but they could always distribute those preview binaries with a warning and instructions on how to disable that security check.