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Comment by ASalazarMX | Hacker News Reader

I think this is it. I have a single markdown file for all my casual notes (1), and a folder structure for my permanent notes (2). Notes of type 2 are the most valuable long-term, and it's worth the time to select what to store, and to structure it right.

I'm always on the hunt of my ideal open source, lightweight, non-cloud, cross-platform, mobile-friendly hierarchical note taking app, but I know I'm asking too much, maybe I'll never find it. Meanwhile I use plain text editors.

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I use gitjournal.io to sync my folder of markdown notes between PC and phone. I wrote about my little ensemble of editors and tools at https://www.bbkane.com/blog/how-i-take-notes/

Came here to say this. I have a highly evolved note taking methodology/snippet setup(common MAC address prefixes etc)/auto-insert timestamp every line that I use VS Code for. If I spoke to someone 15 months ago, I can tell you who and the exact time/day and some shorthand notes about the call.

These notes are invaluable.

That sounds more powerful than Lion Kimbro's version (https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/book.pdf). You should document it!

> non-cloud & cross-platform

Small question: how do you expect "automatic sync" to work "between platforms without a cloud"?

Syncthing :)

Ahh.. so you want to only sync locally between devices.. or you want it to support your special cloud-protocol so you can run your own cloud-server... . But wouldn't the second part be cheating, not naming it cloud-based?

Syncthing with Wireguard/Tailscale is not exactly local, not really "cloud".

As long as you have two connectable devices Syncthing doesn't have to be strictly local. It'll take advantage of local networks, but it's certainly not limited to that.

Non-cloud as not chained to the provider's storage services, I want to decide how to sync it between my devices. I want a tool for my notes, not SaaS. I wouldn't mind paying for my tool chain, what I wouldn't want is paying rent for my own notes.

Syncthing

As others have said, Syncthing. I also have used DropBox or Google Drive since there is no confidential information in my permanent notes.

I didn't mention it because then it wouldn't be simply text files, but encryption would be the cherry on top of my ideal app, since any storage provider could be used to sync it.

Org-mode on Emacs checks all those boxes. The only issue might be the learning curve of core Emacs.

...Getting lost in learning org-mode is a fantastic way to avoid creating things...

Just learn the subset of it that you need to record your thoughts and get on with it.

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