Obsidian is great; I was a happy user for a couple years. But I recently switched to Logseq and I think I’m already liking it more, and it’s because of something Logseq doesn’t do.
Obsidian lets you write a full markdown file, so step one is deciding how to write something down. Is it a nested list? Or a table? Or headings and subheadings with paragraphs?
In Logseq, everything is a nested list. This feels like a limitation, but I’ve been preferring it. The decision is made for you: you’re going to jot this information down as a list. So then you just start writing it.
People often tout that Logseq is open source, and while that is great, IMO there is also a design consideration that makes it better. Pretty much any kind of information you want to write down can be represented as a nested list. Doing it that way keeps everything simple, consistent, and more searchable. (Logseq’s built-in querying feature seems to be more powerful than Obsidian’s Dataview plugin, although I can’t say much about it since I haven’t really played with it yet.)
Both Obsidian and Logseq save (kinda) standard markdown files, so if you spend a lot of time in a plain text editor, you can still use that. You don’t lose anything by editing a file in a separate editor – they will both parse and re-index the file next time you view it in the respective app.
Logseq is the only note taking system that has clicked with me, by lowering the mental overhead at the time of adding notes. I just throw it in there without any considerations while still feeling like it’s not going to get lost. Later I may revisit the day’s journal and add tags or connect other information, move a block into its own page, etc.
my situation is very similar to yours; I was previously an obsidian user but then switched to logseq for everything. I really wonder why logseq website doesn’t hype up the fact that it’s an outliner, because imo that’s what sets it apart from similar programs. I didn’t even know what an outliner was until recently
In Logseq, everything is a nested list. This feels like a limitation, but I’ve been preferring it. The decision is made for you: you’re going to jot this information down as a list. So then you just start writing it.
Oh - this sounds interesting.
Whenever I needed to jot down any notes I’ve been finding myself just writing plain .txt files with bullet points, and trying tools like Obsidian or TiddlyWiki I always ended up being overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I could do (and with all the customization options) that I never got around to actually writing things down. I’m definitely gonna look into how Logseq works.
(Although I have to say, their website does look a bit “too hype-y” for my liking. IDK how to explain it, just a gut feeling. Still, at least it’s FOSS so it can’t be too bad)
The website also put me off, I only kept at it because my partner was already using it and it looked solid enough. I even asked “Are you sure this is the logseq? It looks so…idk Marketing?”
But so far I just seem to use it a lot, and the more I use it the more useful I find it, especially after learning how to add tags (didn’t seem particularly obvious in the docs), and after finally getting into the flow of using Syncthing.
Kinda surprised I had to scroll this far down to find logseq. I’ve started using it in university and it’s been a life saver. I love the idea that everything is in these nested blocks, so I can just hammer down notes about whatever super quick with no setup or thinking about it. I just plunk my laptop down, open it up and go to town.
In Logseq, everything is a nested list. This feels like a limitation, but I’ve been preferring it. The decision is made for you: you’re going to jot this information down as a list. So then you just start writing it.
I really appreciate you posting this. I’m a long-time Obsidian user, and an Evernote user before that, and I never “got” Logseq. I just couldn’t understand what people saw in an app that didn’t let you “write” anything. I’ve tried to start using Logseq so many times and just given up because the interface made no sense.
Thanks to your comment I finally get it! I prefer to be using something open-source, so I’m going to give Logseq another go, now that I finally understand it, and see how that approach feels.
CherryTree is way clunkier, IMO, and has too many irrelevant options that get in the way, particularly around formatting. Obsidian is just markdown, so you don’t have the option of spending 15 minutes trying to figure out why code blocks are showing up as dark text on light background even though you’re in dark mode, which was my last experience in CherryTree. Looking and cross referencing documents is also super easy; I’m not sure if CherryTree even does that.
I love it, but I wish it were open source. I have since switched to LogSeq, and now I’m even trying out TiddlyWiki.
On the topic of note taking programms.
Is there anything like onenote that is linux compatible, especially for handwritten notes? The closest in regards to decent handwriting support I could find was xournal++ but that felt kind of limiting to me especially without the infinite canvas and the ability to switch notes within the program (think onenote sidebar)
There really isn’t. I hunted for a while before I gave up and bought an android tablet for hand writing notes.
What do you use on android? The main thing I want linux compatibility for is for reading my notes on my computer, not for actually creating them. I thought about just annotating PDFs directly but I’m not sure how good that will work
If you’re using Android then just use Onenote on Android and use the web version of Onenote to read them on Linux
I use it to keep track of my dinosaur breeding on ark survival evolved
Obsidian looks interesting, but I’m already using emacs and I’m pretty sure every feature in obsidian can be done in emacs.
Honestly emacs is pretty decent for almost every text related task and many non text related tasks as well.
…I’m pretty sure every feature in obsidian can be done in emacs.
It definitely can. Unfortunately, I was the only emacs user on my team at work, so switching from org-mode to something that used plain markdown files was beneficial. There’s a network effect here – sharing notes is valuable.
Also, since Obsidian (and Logseq, which is what I use now) both use save plain markdown files, you can still edit your notes in emacs.
Honestly emacs is pretty decent for almost every text related task and many non text related tasks as well.
For sure, emacs is still my favorite operating system. :)
For sure, emacs is still my favorite operating system. :)
(Neo)Vim guy here. That’s something that I love and hate about emacs. It’s powerful and extensible to the point of being intimidating (being basically a lisp interpreter that can write lisp is crazy, in a good way). If I didn’t do work on remote machines, I’d probably give it another go, as I enjoyed it the when I used it before. Just not enough time these days, with all of the other stuff that I want to do.
I personally only use emacs for it’s org-mode. However, the few times I needed to remote edit files TrampMode has been on point.
Just letting you all know this exists.
Honestly emacs is pretty decent for almost every text related task
With emphasis on “pretty decent”. Personally my bar is higher than that…
Idk, there’s a wide range of text related tasks. Some of those tasks, I would say emacs is very good at (like programming or taking notes), and others are good enough (like email and file management). The reason that I would want to use it for the worse tasks is that the text editing tools between the tasks are all the same and its all programmable.
Its all personal preference though.
