[HN Gopher] AppFlowy: an open-source alternative to Notion
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AppFlowy: an open-source alternative to Notion
 
Author : ericyan
Score  : 58 points
Date   : 2021-11-29 19:49 UTC (3 hours ago)
 
web link (github.com)
w3m dump (github.com)
 
| polote wrote:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29234805 14 days ago
 
| rektide wrote:
| "Deep Dive Into Roam's Data Structure"[1] really got me very
| thirsty for having good core underpinning concepts/ideas of what
| data is, how it's held in the system.
| 
| I was unaware that Roam is built atop Datomic. Just hearing that
| set off a huge light bulb, that there's some very competent
| information-engineering underneath Roam, that it builds atop. I'd
| heard some very sunny statements about Roam from engineers I
| respect a lot, but I've only briefly played around in Roam, and
| have been unsure why people would feel strongly about it, would
| say it stands out so starkly against what I felt like were
| competing personal information archives like Obsidian.
| 
| Anyhow, I'm even less well versed in the similar-but-different
| realm of what Notion is, what Notion is for. Another wiki-ish
| like substrate for work, collaboration, data, information;
| adjacent, but different. More collaboration oriented. But reading
| this in-depth discussion on Roam, it underscored to me that the
| application layer, the look and feel, the product: it's kind of
| the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath, the engine of
| information: that is definitional, is core. Bias beware, this
| totally validates what I want to hear, which is that software's
| highest & most principal role is to enable deep use/creation,
| empower further realms of through, enable creation of better
| purchases/views/perspectives. Applications all feel done & baked,
| but I crave software that embraces an unlimited, that is just a
| starting point, and this review of Roam's data structures whetted
| this dormant hope, seemed like a strong indicator that we ought
| be aiming software much higher than we have been.
| 
| It suggests strongly to me that the underlying object/entity
| architectures of software are of key importance, not just as how
| programmers write code, but as vital concepts to the users of the
| system. And it re-invigorates my hope that the big solid line
| between the two classes eventually starts to dissolve some,
| become hazier.
| 
| [1] https://www.zsolt.blog/2021/01/Roam-Data-Structure-
| Query.htm... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29295532 (8
| days, 4 comments)
| 
| [2]
 
| ckluis wrote:
| Missed opportunity... their roadmap is on trello instead of being
| self-hosted on appflowy...
 
  | pps wrote:
  | Isn't this app desktop only?
 
    | rickstanley wrote:
    | Yes it is.
 
| louis-lau wrote:
| Unfortunately a desktop note taking app without any multi-user
| support does not make a notion alternative. I understand it is
| aiming to be that in the future, but calling it one now seems
| odd.
| 
| It does not support slash commands.
 
| fuddle wrote:
| Rust + Flutter, a good combo! It would be good to see an online
| demo.
 
| simonw wrote:
| Would be great if we could try this out without having to compile
| it - since it's Rust hopefully providing compiled builds for
| different platforms (maybe via GitHub Actions compiling and
| attaching them as GitHub releases) would be feasible.
| 
| Signing binaries on macOS is a bit of a pain though, but they
| could always distribute those preview binaries with a warning and
| instructions on how to disable that security check.
 
  | louis-lau wrote:
  | While the README doesn't mention it, there are compiled
  | releases on github.
 
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