Open Source @lemmy.ml Twashe @lemmy.ml 1 yr. ago

Thoughts on anytype ?

I've not tried it yet but that's a long suspicious list of VC money for something hoping to be built opensource private p2p and decentralized

https://anytype.io/

22 comments

It is rare that everything app like this has a source code available to public. I'm immediately hooked, as someone who can't wrap his head around making custom views in Obsidian and its open source alternatives. (For the love of Pete, frontmatters are just too demanding on syntax department!) Fork, stat! 😃

License doesn't seem to step on your toes as long as you don't distribute Anytype in exchange for something (w/ or w/o modifications).
I’m more interested in Affine.pro and AppFlowy that serve the same use case. Both will offer encryption, both FOSS.

There’s also SiYuan (E2EE) which is a FOSS version of Obsidian but it doesn’t ha e the database table feature that AppFlowy and Affine are developing.

Anytype has been hyped for at least 4 years now and I keep waiting for something useable, I think they’re wasting FOSS community energy.
- I like affine.pro and appflowy but both were not really usuable last I tried them. The self hosted options are barely functioning so at the end of the day it's just local. For a nice looking self hosted wiki I got outline working after tinkering for some time. Affine has been promising!
Idk about their finances. But the app's UI is beyond confusing.
- Seems very strange indeed. Lots of buzzwords and confusing concepts
  
  Will need to check the UI and post again. The buzzwords are directly speaking to remote work culture and a migration away from central services. The ecosystem, their plans to make money off that network are an interesting way to get ahead of those market movements. I'm not opposed but I am suspicious of it.
  
  Skiff was kind if a disappointment when it came down to it. Using decentralized storage web3 privacy buzzwords but finding different ways to vendor lock and track.
I can chime in here as I was an early alpha tester. I like the idea of the app but it's very "tag-centric" in that you have to tag content in order to create maps. This makes it hard to resurface content organically as in Obsidian or Logseq. I much prefer Obsidian; although it isn't open source, my files are still portable.
I've been jumping between pkms tools and still waiting for anytype to allow self hosting
- Self hosted? Looks like everything runs locally, what is being hosted? Are you talking about the p2p relays?
  
  yea should be that, currently i think the files sits with them therefore the 1gb limit but i could be wrong
I've been extremely interested in anytype for some time. It does however use a proprietary license, which can stymie growth and community involvement.
Does someone know what is their business model? How are they planning to make money?
- In their FAQ they explain making money initially by offering paid backups. What's interesting is their future plans, their vision of a cooporitive ecosystem or whatever, they make money off namespaces/domains, publishing/work contribution, in addition to the backups. This is of course if it gets engagement like notion, it will demonstrate ways to make money from an open network.
  
  If you're betting on the tech culture moving to decentralized services this could be a way to have a foot in it.
I literally just installed Zettlr after looking for open source Obsidian alternatives, and now there's another one already?

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