orgdown VS obsidian-releases

There are two reasons why I call Org mode standardized.

> I imagine there aren't really various flavors of Org Mode, but that doesn't make it standardized.

All the implementations that call themselves org-mode follow the conventions set by the canonical implementation - the Emacs org-mode. While this may not sound like a good reason to call it standardized, the practical implication is a vast difference from what you get with various markdown flavors. In the latter case, the only way to make sure that your markdown is correct, is to test it with the target implementation.

The second reason is that there is an actual effort to standardize org-mode - called Orgdown [1]. Org-mode is already more or less uniform across implementations. This effort tries to write it down as a reference. Markdown has a similar effort called CommonMark. But if you want to know why it's different, you have to look at the history of why it isn't called 'Standard Markdown'.

[1] https://gitlab.com/publicvoit/orgdown

And yes, at least my setup fulfills all of your requirements and much more. For starters, I can add tags, date- and timestamps everywhere, generate "agenda" views for days/weeks/months/... which collects all those time-related items and visualizes them, I can link emails/urls/... and links to files which I tag as well, I can search through search strings or regex to find meta-data on files/notes/events/... and it's all in the most versatile file format possible: plain UTF-8 text files containing simple orgdown syntax, the most beautifully designed lightweight markup language (LML) there is IMHO.

Are you aware of orgdown?

If you want to parse Orgdown files yourself, expect to invest some time in setting up a testing environment.

I think we've got a misunderstanding here. Text files (in this case in orgdown syntax format) are files that contain the information in its original form: characters, words, sentences. So you only need a software that lets you open a text file to view it. If you want to modify the information stored in the text files, you need an application that lets you modify text files. In case of orgdown, you can find options on https://gitlab.com/publicvoit/orgdown/-/blob/master/doc/Tool-Support.org or choose any non-syntax-specific editor of your choice.

So the links are working in Markdown? So Markdown-export is working and your issue starts with the conversion from Markdown to Orgdown?

Well, the difference is that Orgdown, the syntax of Org mode for GNU Emacs is a Lightweight markup language while HTML is a more complex markup language.

Since your notes are in orgdown format, you may use any compatible app that understands to read and probably write orgdown. One of them is GNU Emacs with its org-mode.

I'm thinking of a screen that pops up when booting Emacs that only shows the files I was working on recently in large font (maybe as buttons to click on). The file extension should be hidden, so that I may use it with Orgdown files that have long, descriptive file names (most probably within the same directory).

The closest editor that follows our first principle is Obsidian editor:

The solution was already installed on both my computer and my phone: Obsidian.

> why does open source need to "win"

Open source does not need to win.

But your ability to be in control of your computer needs to be preserved. A proprietary fridge cannot control your diet, while a proprietary App Store can control what software you install on YOUR phone (unless you live in EU, hello DMA!). The tail wags the dog, so to speak. Proprietary software has also been shown to break user workflows or remove functions in an update while leaving users with no choice whatsoever.

One alternative to having open source win is to ensure software must come with a robust warranty and other assurances you expect from the things you buy. EU's CRA will make software vulnerabilities in WiFi routers covered by warranty, for example.

You can also ensure robust and interoperable data storage options. For example, https://obsidian.md/ stores all notes in Markdown, not holding the data hostage in case users will not like how future versions will work. GDPR actually has a provision for data portability (Art. 20), but it does not seem to have a requisite effect on the industry yet.

And until the above issues are solved, open source remains the best way to ensure that a software tail cannot wag your computer dog.

[2] https://obsidian.md/

So I've had my fair share of personal websites and blogs. I have built them on stacks ranging from the most basic HTML and CSS, to hosted frameworks like Wordpress and Laravel, to the more modern single page applications built in Vue and React. For a simple content blog I think you can't go wrong with a Static Site Generator though. These days I am almost exclusively writing everything in Obsidian. Which is great because its all in standard markdown format. This allows for a really neat and easy content publishing workflow.

Consider making an Obsidian[^1] plugin, or writing to Obsidian-compatible Markdown files :)

[^1]: https://obsidian.md/

Obsidian is a writing application created to allow for offline / private note taking in markdown format, in an interface that looks a lot like our regular programming IDE. It is very flexible, with a good collection of community plugins that you can use to customize Obsidian to your heart contents.

Obsidian support via our Obsidian Plugin

Thank you!

In the beginning, I used kognise'z water.css [1], so most of the smart decisions (background/text color, margins, line spacing I think) probably come from there. Since then it's been some amount of little adjustments. The font is by Jean François Porchez, called Le Monde Livre Classic [2].

I draft in Obsidian [3] and build the site with a couple python scripts and KaTeX.

[1] https://watercss.kognise.dev/

[2] https://typofonderie.com/fr/fonts/le-monde-livre-classic

[3] https://obsidian.md/