[backscratches]

I use .MD files, helix terminal editor with a markdown LSP called markdown-oxide that replicates the obsidian feature set (like bidirectional links, tags, making new notes automatically, two keys get you from a in-line footnote to the definition and back again, etc), and rumdl which is a super efficient and customizable markdown linter and formatter (semantic line breaks far the win!) . Since it is all helix I can jump around a huge web of interlinked files very quickly with only a few key presses, as well as inside a document and manipulate them en masse or in minute detail all with only a few taps. All of your standard open source terminal tools work with it, difftastic, bat/cat, zoxide/CD, ripgrep, fzf, git, LLMs, encryption, sync, etc etc. I use yazi for a visual filepicker and zellij for tabs. Run it on a server and connect from any computer in the world without downloading a single thing. I sometimes make use of two tools called rucola and tree-md for looking at prettier versions of the texts and seeing stats about how they interact. All open source of course!

There is no better interface for text than a terminal, and we are in the golden age. Despite being extremely powerful, this setup will run on resource constrained machines.

[Oras]

> There is no better interface for text than a terminal

It's a personal choice that cannot be imposed on everyone. Not everyone is a developer.

[backscratches]

Being a better version of something is an invitation, not an imposition! I'm not a developer and never have been, I study literatureand I use a modal editor for all my writing.

If you've ever used Ctrl+C to copy, you've already done something harder than the core concept of modal editing. Modal editing is simpler: you press a single key, and you switch to one (of two) modes. That's it. That's the thing people find intimidating. In one mode the letters you press show up on the screen, in the other the letters you press select/copy/move/etc (like cntrl+c... Except even simpler you only need to press one key). You have to use keyboard keys to go up and down, which I assume you already have some experience with.

Learning it is identical to learning a GUI. In Word, you hunt through menus for the word 'cut' or 'paste' and click it. In a modal editor like helix you look up cut or paste on a menu and press the key next to it instead. Except once you remember the key you never have to go look through menus again!

Get the hang of it and modal text editors are to word processors what word processors are to typewriters. Except at least typewriters have some charm.

All that being said, if you want to sync your notes you'll have to use something like Dropbox or google drive, and I looked up how to install helix and you do have to download and unzip a file (https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/releases). Still, computer science degree not required!

Unless you've only ever used android or iOS device in which case all of my assumptions about your familiarity with keyboards and mice is totally off. Still!

[deafpolygon]

> In Word, you hunt through menus for the word 'cut' or 'paste' and click it.

What you just described is discoverability. Something that terminal applications and modal editors tend to do quite poorly.

[backscratches]

Yes but helix for example has very good discoverability by presenting commands on the screen which you can read slowly or not even notice between memorized key presses. And even ancient editors like vi it means printing out or having the commands listed in a window to reference which is a far cry from developer level ability.

[RivoLink]

So, I suggest you https://github.com/RivoLink/leaf

[eMPee584]

cool but https://github.com/bahdotsh/mdterm even has remote image support : D

[zethsg]

This is a great setup. I just tried it (markdown-oxide + rumdl) on Helix also -- super nice. I'd been using Obsidian for the inter-linking not knowing it could be done with Helix, so thanks for sharing this

[Galanwe]

Right, but most people want to be able to consult their notes on the go, quickly add items from their phone, etc.

[saint_yossarian]

To be fair you can just keep using Obsidian or similar apps on your phone for this, along with an external sync solution like Syncthing.

I tried it for a bit in the past, the main friction is apps formatting Markdown slightly differently (indents, blank lines).

[backscratches]

The beauty of an interoperable format like markdown

[backscratches]

I do too. The setup I've described is best for big screen work when I need tools that dont compromise in any way.

[benrutter]

Glad I read this! I love Helix and have been looking for a way to have some extra note taking features without loosing my favourite editor. Will definitely give markdown-oxide a try!

[backscratches]

Highly recommend it

[benrutter]

Glad I read about this! I love helix and have been looking for some bonus features for note organisation without having to ditch my favourite editor, will defi

[feel-ix-343]

!