The Obsidian Switch
- 1 minAs is inevitable for any self-hosting, tech-loving, note-taking geek, it’s time to switch up apps.
Over the last month, Simplenote has become much more central to my day-to-day life as a todo-esque system, as well as a slightly more structured second brain. Given that the app has only one main feature—checklists—it was a well-suited starting point. However, while using Simplenote for this new purpose, its sole feature is let down by the lack of supporting features around it.
Obsidian has been the go-to for many people for a few years, with past recommendations ensuring it was the default choice for me. I’ve seen too many people fall into the trap of making Notion management a project in and of itself, and I’m keen to avoid its overbloated ilk. Obsidian treads the line between the note-taking extremes quite nicely. Happily, it’s exceeded my low expectations in the first few days, and the handful of quirks are well worth adapting to for the upsides.
As an app with a open ethos, syncing is where Obsidian makes a proportion of its money. The cost is minimal and very likely worth it for those seeking a simple life. But given my “long pockets, short arms,” plus the gradual move away from big tech, I’m keen to avoid the official service and most of the alternatives. They are afterall, storing my notes on their server system.
A quick search led me to Syncthing. While it appears to be a file syncing rabbit hole you can dive deep into, for a collection of .md files it was an easy setup. Key to a straightforward setup is that you have one host device, i.e. your laptop, serving other devices.
Moving forward, it’ll be fun to explore the ecosystem around Obsidian and see what the plugins can do to enhance my note-taking flow. Additionally, Syncthing is an app that could support future self-hosting ventures. I purposely tried to avoid it last time around, but keen to use it more now that it’s setup.
I guess I should go grab a CMOS battery and get the server back up and running. . .