Iām most definitely not looking for a markdown note manager. The original post states what I think needs to be there at a minimum but Iām probably going to add more to this as everyone has differing ideas on what an evernote replacement is.
Edit:
On pojnt 2 Iāll just cut and past what I wrote on reddit a few years ago:
All of the functionality I have listed above, I have seen (partially) in other opensource applications:
Laverna - the new kid on the block, provides the user with the ability to encrypt notes and sync to dropbox or other cloud storage. The problem with Laverna, is that it simply isnāt stable at all. Itās very easy to lose your notes. It also doesnāt support WYSIWYG editingā¦ instead it relies on a confusing dual pane markup and preview interface. No support for non-image attachments. One thing I love about this application is the progress bar for tasks in a note - simple and brilliant!
Everpad - hooks into the Evernote infrastructure. Good for a low volume of notes but when you have thousands of notes, it becomes alomost unusable. Doesnāt Encrypt your data.
NixNote - Like everpad, uses the EN api to provide Linux uses with a Native client. Encryption not fully supported. In my personal experience Iāve had issues ranging from performance issues to synchronization issues.
Basket - Probably the most mature of what I have seen so far. However, one of the reason I was never happy with Onenote was because of the use of contaiiners for text and other types of document content. EN uses a traditional (and familar) word processing method of editing notes. As far as I can tell, it provides no synchronzation with other devices as well as no encryption. For users not running KDE (esp., Gnome or unity), the dependencies are many.
Wiki (pick your own here) - No synchronization - Markup only - Typically doesnāt support storing of external files, depends on links to the files.
Springseed - this is arguably the best looking of the note taking applications. However, itās simply not stable enough to trust my notes to (I lost all my notes when I upgraded my OS despite the fact that the notes were stored in my dropbox folder). No encryption and relies on dropbox to sync. Any application will need to be stable. If a user loses data heāll not be back.
Keepnote - This is a nice note taking application that can be used locally. It doesnāt support encryption. Thereās no synchronization.
Getting other perspectives would be great! @aproposnix has been very
clear, and it would be awesome for others to chime in.
1 Are you currently using Evernote? If so, what features are the most helpful?
2 Have you tried any FOSS alternatives to Evernote?
3 What app features are you looking for in a FOSS Evernote replacement?
I want to add, that with the current business strategy of focusing on health care professionals (based on the current social media posts by NC) an Evernote replcement would make a valubale sales proposition.
As Nextcloud is primarily a document store, having an application that allows the user to work with static files in a more dynmic way would be very valueable.
For example, letās say a doctor want to keep track of a specific patient, she would likely create a folder for that patient and add the patirents medical records there. However, many of those documents will need to be referenced in different scenarios. With an Evernote like system, the doctor could create a single report referencing multiple documents. By clicking on the links within the report she opens the latest version (instead of having to navigate to the folder and find the document). Additionaly, if the doctor would like to share the information with her colleagues, she could send the report via email which would also include the linked files or simply share it with other colleagues using the same system (without exposing all of the documents related to the patient).
Basically, you want somebody to do the work for you, while you do some directing? Ideas are not the problem here. Probably half of the nextcloud used base has had this idea before. And I bet, many of them have a pretty good understanding of āhow things should workā.
Translation: youāre not interested in helping anyone but yourself?
Good luck with that.
Also, regarding ācreating a new oneā, I believe this applies more or less:
Iām concerned about this thread devolving or getting too tense. Letās please continue this discussion, but stay respectful to all participating.
edit: @amenthes, I cannot find any previous comments or suggestions from you regarding an Evernote Replacement in Nextcloud. Could you please some add comments or thoughts regarding it.
None of the suggested replacements do the only thing that they need to doā¦ sync with NC. I donāt want to set up another server (rules out Tagspaces). I donāt want to have to run the NC desktop client just to sync (rules out half a dozen of those people suggest most). Notebooksapp used to sync, but stopped a few versions ago.
There are about 40 note-taking applications based on Electron. At least a hundred more retail ones in Appleās appstore or whatever. Iāve been going through them one by one, hoping to find something that will keep my notes synced across two computers and a phone (with web access!), and nothingās even close.
I keep all my calendars in NC. I keep all my contacts. I keep all my bookmarks (check out that NC app if you havenāt, itās awesome). There is virtually nothing I want to keep that canāt be kept well in NC, except notes.
Honestly folks, if I have to use the file sync client to sync my notes, Sublime Text can be my notes app.
Can you expand on what you actually mean by sync with Nextcloud. Are you referring to the Nextcloud Notes app? Depending on your intent, you could be a bit off in your assumption.
Qownnotes syncs with Nextcloud Notes fully through QownnotesAPI.
I am unfamiliar with Joplin, I will try it out tonight. Tagspaces looks very interestingā¦ but the Webdav only works if you host it on apache/nginx. I checked that out briefly. I want integration with NC, not a side-by-side webapp.
I have not tried the PicoCMS app yet, not sure Iām interested in it by itself. I might try it for Zimwiki. Even then, I couldnāt expect a native app on mobile devicesā¦
Thank you, more to check out. Will also take a look at Nextnote to see if anythingās new.
I am using QOwnnotes on Linux and Windows, Epsilon notes on Android and Markdown Editor inside the Webinterface.
Its a bit clunky but as far itās yet the best combination for me.
Joplinās really close guys. It syncs (and well) to arbitrary directories. It uses markdown even (I was prepared to accept proprietary file formats even if they ended up locking me in).
However, it creates randomly named files in the directory, and appends syncing metadata to the end. So you canāt use NCās markdown app for notesā¦ sometimes I still need notes and Iām at some random computer.
Still, this would be migratable (with work) if Joplin ever died, and if you donāt need to use the webappā¦
However, it creates randomly named files in the directory, and appends syncing metadata to the end. So you canāt use NCās markdown app for notesā¦ sometimes I still need notes and Iām at some random computer.
As OP of this thread mentions, finding an evernote replacement requires a lot more than just editing markdown, but submitting these requests on Github can help get us there eventually. Be sure to look on the relevant Github issues and report bugs / feature requests as you can.
After a few days of evaluation, I do not believe Joplin suits my needs. Itās very close to what I want, but the author has no intention of ever fixing its deficiencies.
When it saves/syncs files to Nextcloud, the filesystem is used as a slop bucket of randomly named files. Though they use the md extension and are nominally markdown, every one of them is contaminated with strange metadata tags. Given that Nextcloud makes a database available for such things, and given that the filesystem can map to Joplins āmany notes in many notebooksā nesting hierarchy, this shouldnāt be strictly necessary.
The end result is that though my notes might be recoverable if I was ever forced to use another application, it would be non-trivial and require great effort. The suggestion that someday there might be an Joplin NC app doesnāt fix thisā¦ Iād prefer for the files stored on the filesystem be arranged in such a way that they make sense in and of themselves.
I will continue to keep my fingers crossed that the Tagspaces author makes the desktop client WebDAV-capable, and that he makes an NC app version of it.
It is indeed good news that the Tagspaces author is considering making it an NC app. But I still need to be able to sync with the mobile appā¦ itās only part of the puzzle. Iād really like the desktop app to do webdav as well. Iāll keep my fingers crossed.
As for Joplin, Iām not sure that the NC Notes API is the correct implementation. If this happens Iāll check it out, but it doesnāt seem promising to me.
Sorry for the late replyā¦ Iāve been a bit busy lately.
First and foremost, you are very aggressive. Please read the rules of conduct.
Basically, you want somebody to do the work for you, while you do some directing? Ideas are not the problem here. Probably half of the nextcloud used >base has had this idea before. And I bet, many of them have a pretty good understanding of āhow things should workā.
Nope. What I would like to do is push the discussion away from MD editors as a replacement for Evernote (which they are not - alternatives to evernote, sure). I would most definitely like to have a true replacement for Evernote - itās the one proprietary thing I have to work with because no FOSS solution can replace it. I see value (a lot of value) in having a true FOSS replacement for Evernote.
Translation: youāre not interested in helping anyone but yourself?
Good luck with that.
Color be baffled because I simply donāt understand your logic. You are actually saying that because itās open source I must provide feedback (esp., through bug reporting) even though I am not using it? Huh? I have already invested a lot of time in looking for an evernote replacement, including filing bug reports for projects which āmaybeā might be a replacement (sadly, they never are).
With regards to the comicā¦ I never once said anything about creating new standards.
My post is very direct but I doubt it is in contradiction to the rules of conduct.
I believe, the sections I quoted are valuable information for anyone considering taking up this task.
If youāre looking for someone to write the perfect nextcloud app for you, the easiest solution would be to pay a developer for 2-3 months. This will probably give you a basic version of what youāre looking for with no strings attached.
You are so right, evernote is off the chain, and right now the only program type of itās kind. Yes we have turtl , and tusk evenote like progarms for Linux. but there nothing like evernote there are programs in my openion, just to get you in the back door. I started using evernote, 2 years ago and now with about 80 notebooks, and over 7000 note later, I am in it. Whatās upsetting is that they or [Evernote] donāt has anything for linux. So right now I use turtl and I use tusk, and I just saw something today call Elephant -Notetaker. I am so excited about using Nextcloud for all my daliy work flow and I hope to see some down the line like a evernote replacement
