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Similar here. For personal use, I don't bother with the extra hassle of wiki software, but just maintain Markdown files in my `~/wiki/` directory.

For example, my notes about Stable Fusion are in `~/wiki/stable-fusion.md`.

Since I have my Emacs Markdown mode tweaked to be semi-WYSIWYG, the only downside is that links between pages is a little messier than if I used wiki software. (I might tweak Emacs a bit more, to have link text in square brackets navigate to the right filename.)

Someday, these files might end up in wiki software, but I'm in no hurry, and I'm capturing and accessing the info now.

Could you elaborate more on your Emacs Markdown tweaks? It sounds very interesting!

Face tweaks alone make it a lot more pleasant. For a live table-of-contents sidebar you can toggle on and off, I use `imenu-list`, and there's also some face tweaks to make that more muted.

    (custom-set-faces
     ;; custom-set-faces was added by Custom.
     ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful.
     ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance.
     ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right.

     [...]

     '(markdown-blockquote-face ((t (:inherit nil :foreground "gray50"))))
     '(markdown-bold-face ((t (:inherit nil :slant normal :weight bold))))
     '(markdown-header-delimiter-face ((t (:inherit markdown-markup-face))))
     '(markdown-header-face ((t (:inherit nil :weight bold :family "sans"))))
     '(markdown-header-face-1 ((t (:inherit markdown-header-face :height 2.0))))
     '(markdown-header-face-2 ((t (:inherit markdown-header-face :height 1.6))))
     '(markdown-header-face-3 ((t (:inherit markdown-header-face :height 1.2))))
     '(markdown-header-face-4 ((t (:inherit markdown-header-face :height 1.1))))
     '(markdown-header-face-5 ((t (:inherit markdown-header-face :height 1.0))))
     '(markdown-html-attr-name-face ((t (:inherit markdown-markup-face))))
     '(markdown-html-attr-value-face ((t (:inherit markdown-markup-face))))
     '(markdown-html-tag-name-face ((t (:inherit markdown-markup-face))))
     '(markdown-inline-code-face ((t (:inherit nil :foreground "green4"))))
     '(markdown-italic-face ((t (:inherit nil :slant italic :weight normal))))
     '(markdown-language-keyword-face ((t (:foreground "gray80"))))
     '(markdown-link-face ((t (:inherit nil :foreground "blue3" :underline t))))
     '(markdown-pre-face ((t (:inherit markdown-inline-code-face :background "#f4fff4"))))
     '(markdown-reference-face ((t (:weight bold))))
     '(markdown-strike-through-face ((t (:inherit nil :strike-through t))))
     '(markdown-table-face ((t (:inherit nil :background "#fafafa"))))
     '(markdown-url-face ((t (:inherit markdown-markup-face))))

     [...]

     '(imenu-list-entry-face ((t (:family "Sans Serif"))))
     '(imenu-list-entry-face-0 ((t (:inherit imenu-list-entry-face))))
     '(imenu-list-entry-face-1 ((t (:inherit imenu-list-entry-face))))
     '(imenu-list-entry-face-2 ((t (:inherit imenu-list-entry-face))))
     '(imenu-list-entry-face-3 ((t (:inherit imenu-list-entry-face))))
     '(imenu-list-entry-subalist-face-0 ((t (:inherit imenu-list-entry-face-0))))
     '(imenu-list-entry-subalist-face-1 ((t (:inherit imenu-list-entry-face-1))))

     [...])

Do you sync that folder across devices? If so, how?

Not OP but here how I might do -- Synching, Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, etc.

I tend to use Git (or earlier VCS) to sync much of my homedir across systems, for disconnected operation.

This doesn't support my smartphone, but that's OK for my current needs. (If I someday need to access this super-minimal wiki from my smartphone, without my laptop, I'll consider syncing it with Git, or moving to self-hosted wiki Web UI that's maybe as a veneer over keeping the wiki files maximally accessible as local files on my real computers.)

>Tools such as Obsidian are a good option for me, as I can use it as that -- a tool and not worry about the content being tied to any platform - open or otherwise.

Fine, but (because the OP is about an open-source solution) we should mention that Obsidian is not open-source.

https://foambubble.github.io/ is and works on a similar concept.

With the added benefit of being right there in VSCode if that’s a tool you already happen to spend time in.

But then when your collection gets to a certain size it's barely usable without an app. You lose all the easy traversal between interlinked notes for instance. I think plain text sets the bar very low for the functionality absolutely required from an app, but doesn't eliminate it.

I'm definitely in favor of tools on top of my text files. I started with Sublime Text[1] and Markdown Editing[2] Package. I can still and sometimes resort to this setup. I believe that if I can search (Sublime Text is powerful with this) easily, that solves all the connection/relationship between the files.

And a bit of a shameless plug but I have been told by colleagues and friends that my file organizations lasts ages, and are the easiest to navigate. Some have told me, 10-years later, that the system I build and the naming convention are still followed to that day to maintain the software and an easy common-lingual between the designers and developers. :-)

With tools such as Obsidian, it has already shown that this is going to improve as we progress. For me, it is more of the process and patterns of how am I mapping the files/topics/subjects mentally.

1. https://www.sublimetext.com

2. https://sublimetext-markdown.github.io/MarkdownEditing/

I think this is why org-roam[1] makes an index in (IIRC) a SQLite DB. (None of this works on mobile in any meaningful way, of course.)

[1]: https://www.orgroam.com/

I'm still a happy Evernote subscriber since a few years ago. When Galaxy Notes were my main phones, lots of my (handwriting) notes are stored in it.

Nevertheless, I'm still looking for open source alternative. Evernote is certainly more user friendly because it has built-in Word-like WYSWYIG editor. Obsidian, on the other side, is like vim: there's a reading mode, and there's an editing mode. A bit confusing at first.

BTW, just noticed Obsidian is Electron-powered, like VSCode. Hmmm....

I kinda like Joplin. It's not perfect, but it works for me. I enter notes in markdown, and it formats the markdown text (kinda WYSIWYG). Sync has never failed me. I can edit on Android. The desktop app is fine. It has a web clipper. It's free.

What about the bizarre lack of Markdown viewers, though? It's infuriating.

"which still can maintain human readability even if the reader doesn't know what Markdowns are"

I love how some shut-in modded that down. Sad.