KhalidJul 3, 2023
kepano

File over app

File over app is a philosophy: if you want to create digital artifacts that last, they must be files you can control, in formats that are easy to retrieve and read. Use tools that give you this freedom.

Keep reading: https://stephanango.com/file-over-app

File over app

File over app is a philosophy: if you want to create digital artifacts that last, they must be files you can control, in formats that are easy to retrieve an...

Steph Ango
Jul 2, 2023 at 10:08pmElk
Show threadRichard Carter, FCD HAS MOVED…Jul 2, 2023
@kepano Well said… Although the ability to read hieroglyphs was lost for a considerable time until very clever people managed to work out what they meant.
Show threadkepanoJul 2, 2023

@richardcarter a nuance of the term "read" — here I mean the ability to directly access the language, not necessarily parse it

language has its own encoding/decoding problem but that's somewhat outside of the scope of what I wanted to write about

Show threadRichard Carter, FCD HAS MOVED…Jul 2, 2023
@kepano A fair point. I went Markdown for my notes a few years before Obsidian arrived on the scene and I was able to import them seamlessly. I’d learnt my lesson: all my notes for my first book had been lost (post-publication) inside an obsolete proprietary system. These days, if it isn’t open-data, I won’t touch it with a barge-pole! The notes for my next book all reside safely within Markdown/Obsidian.
Show threadEpiphanic SynchronicityJul 2, 2023

@richardcarter @kepano I agree. Although they’re better than SaaS apps, I wouldn’t even be comfortable anymore keeping long-term/permanent notes in an app like Bear or Joplin that stores them in a local database, now that I can keep them directly accessible as individual plaintext files in standard file system folders.

I’m curious, though—what was your obsolete proprietary system?

Show threadRichard Carter, FCD HAS MOVED…Jul 3, 2023
@EpiphanicSynchronicity @kepano The beta of Bear 2 doesn't use a database, but a standard folder… I'm hoping this remains true when the app is finally released.
Show threadEpiphanic SynchronicityJul 3, 2023
@richardcarter @kepano I’m pretty sure Bear 2 still uses a database, and that they’re also working on a separate standalone markdown editor in the iA Writer/Typora category that will use individual .md files. Last I checked the latter, it didn’t even have an in-app library, so it’s unlikely to be a PKM app.
Show threadRichard Carter, FCD HAS MOVED…Jul 3, 2023
@EpiphanicSynchronicity Calling my old proprietary system 'obsolete' was a bit unfair. I used an early version of Microsoft OneNote. I've long since switched from PC to Mac, and OneNote has evolved considerably. There are probably ways to retrieve my old data, but it doesn't seem worth the hassle—even assuming I still have backups somewhere.
Show threadOlavJul 3, 2023
@kepano
Text/csv for the win. I wish it were that easy for cad documents (yes you can reconstruct pcbs from gerbers it's really labor intensive. 3d files, not so much)
Show threadslembckeJul 3, 2023
@kepano Absolutely! I’m increasingly a fan of plain text files or markdown, boring old jpegs, and boring old programming languages like C. I also expect games I’ve made for the NES, a well documented and easy to emulate system, might last the longest of all my code.
Show threadChris WagnerJul 3, 2023
@kepano data portability has recently been high on my list of requirements. Would love to build apps specifically around this idea.
Show threadPhilipp PixelJul 3, 2023

@kepano another example that low tech may beat high tech in the long run.

There is still no replacement for the wheel for on-ground transportation. Even text files may get obsolete while hardcopy books may be viable in a hundred years.

Show threadTidus RemiJul 4, 2023
@kepano I don't know much about this but I know is one of core values of obsidian. I just love the concept. I gonna read more about it.
Show threadgervais_bJul 4, 2023

@kepano this File over app idea make me think to the « local first » principle.

https://martin.kleppmann.com/papers/local-first.pdf