Currently I’m using Joplin with Syncthing-backed file system synchronization. I’m pretty pleased with it, as I do like tagging- and Markdown-based systems.
I plan to upgrade to server-based synchronization, but before doing that, however, I wanted to see what other people are using.
Edit: So far I see a slight favor towards Joplin and Logseq, but I totally didn’t expect (and appreciate) getting so many different answers.
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I started with this and switched to a gitlab project using issues and wiki. It’s better than bare .md files in my editor but not really a solution I’d advise others to use. Maybe I should have a look at Logseq…
QOwnNotes (had to look up the exact name as it’s the stupidest app name ever). but compared to joplin it’s lighter, faster, simpler (no database but individual .md files and folders) and works well enough with syncthing.
It’s pretty good, yeah.
Joplin. Obsidian is not open source, doesn’t have native self hosting and it gets complicated. Joplin is very simple and just works. Although, it stores the notes in a hashed database, so you can’t edit raw files without Joplin client
Problem with Joplin: The raw files are randomly named so you can’t easily find a specific note
That’s not even the bigger problem. I found the desktop ui very clunky. There were too many papercuts for me to keep using joplin. However, its TUI and mobile app are excellent.
Honorable mentions for hedgedock.
Depending on how deep you are into the technology, Emacs orgmode and neovim with neorg are probably the highest quality ones.
I personally can’t get away from obsidian, it’s just too good. Stores just as simple directories of markdown files, tons of good extensions, easily kntegratable with other syncing options, and supports tags.
Obsidian. I know it’s not open source, but it just felt right.
It’s just the most developed one, with many extensions too.
Handling PDFs and being able to use a pen is the one reason why I still use GoodNotes on the iPad for everything. To make it semi-searchable I use a filesystem on my server.
I have several active GoodNotes documents for my notes, calendar and work. And my own index document for all the other documents lol.
It feels like the stoneages when comparing it with the nice features programs like Obsidian or Joplin offer. But none of these programs work with PDFs and handwritten notes/annotations.
I’ve been using Trilium Notes for the better part of two years and love it. I have used Obsidian and similar markdown apps, and I find it frustrating to add images due to the need to store them in a separate folder and reference them instead of just pasting them into the page and being done with it. To me, that’s a barrier for notes when I’m trying to brainstorm. I really do like markdown, but it doesn’t work with my though process.
I have a sync server setup at home (with no outside access) and do my main writing inside my network. For notes on the go I use the Notes app on my iphone (its quick and easy) and then drop the notes into Trilium when I get home.
Obsidian does copy/paste images into note directly nowadays.
Logseq, it’s a lot like Obsidian as it also has knowledge graphs, tags, is markdown-based and self-hostable but, in contrast to Obsidian, it’s fully open source
Logseq user here too.
However, for a quick, transitory note, I use Kate or, more recently, Xpad. Only then I transcribe the content to Logseq. Why?
Because while Logseq is great as an outliner and for network thinking, it’s as graceful and agile as an elephant.
The gist of what I’m saying is: for now, and for me (hardware might be playing a role here, but I don’t think so) Logseq is a good note database. For quick typing, I have to use something else.
Personally just markdown textfiles on my Nextcloud server. On some of the projects I work on we use HedgeDoc.
