Notion-like FOSS app
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In my profession I’ve recently been assimilated into the Notion universe. It’s truly brilliant.
But it’s not free (as in freedom). So as I start to pour huge amount of work into structuring and using it, my woes of lock-in comes as expected.
There’s this whole new class of digital tools flexible enough to be shaped by non-coders for virtually any workflow: Notion, Airtable, Coda, Next Matter.
I sense that as the tools of this no-code movement develops further, users realize they don’t need to settle for other people’s workflow but can shape the tools to their liking instead of the other way around. Thus these tools may lay the groundwork for a new level of user expectancy, possibly leaving old rigid tools in the dust.
So, is there anything FOSS that can even begin to compare to Notion?
@yusf some venerable wikis I used allow to generate dynamic elements and input interfaces in pages and build simple applications on demand with scripting.
- TWiki and Foswiki with their own markup language, macros and numerous extensions.
- Xwiki use Velocity, Groovy and code snippets.
Recently Mavo opened: "A new, approachable way to create web applications. Create complex, reactive, persistent web applications by just writing HTML & CSS, without a single line of JavaScript and no server backend. Developed in the Haystack Group at MIT CSAIL and led by Lea Verou. "
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@yusf some venerable wikis I used allow to generate dynamic elements and input interfaces in pages and build simple applications on demand with scripting.
- TWiki and Foswiki with their own markup language, macros and numerous extensions.
- Xwiki use Velocity, Groovy and code snippets.
Recently Mavo opened: "A new, approachable way to create web applications. Create complex, reactive, persistent web applications by just writing HTML & CSS, without a single line of JavaScript and no server backend. Developed in the Haystack Group at MIT CSAIL and led by Lea Verou. "
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I acknowledge the genuine intent of your original reply, @murgero. Thank you. As one of the recurring Cloudron community members your enthusiasm to further the project and help users out is quite notable.
I think that the nature of what Notion brings makes it especially prone to be overlooked feature-wise compared to other tools: it’s the specific way of how elements from other novel tools are put together that makes Notion unique.
So let’s move on. Notion has no FOSS counterpart for the time being. I don’t even se any FOSS no-code tools like the other ones mentioned in the original post. But let’s keep our ears to the ground.
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@murgero Im with you! I used to be die hard anti FOSS, now I'm studying CompSci so I can help out around here!
If you think of FOSS in interpersonal relations, I just gave you a push to your mental git repo hahahah I hope you'll return the favor when I stumble! -
In my profession I’ve recently been assimilated into the Notion universe. It’s truly brilliant.
But it’s not free (as in freedom). So as I start to pour huge amount of work into structuring and using it, my woes of lock-in comes as expected.
There’s this whole new class of digital tools flexible enough to be shaped by non-coders for virtually any workflow: Notion, Airtable, Coda, Next Matter.
I sense that as the tools of this no-code movement develops further, users realize they don’t need to settle for other people’s workflow but can shape the tools to their liking instead of the other way around. Thus these tools may lay the groundwork for a new level of user expectancy, possibly leaving old rigid tools in the dust.
So, is there anything FOSS that can even begin to compare to Notion?
@yusf
My understanding is that anytype .io is similar to Notion. The developers say they plan to open source it after they release it.
It is built on IPFS. You can check out a video here:I have no affiliation. I just stumbled upon it and have been awaiting its release. If it lives up to the hype, I hope to somehow use it with cloudron
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@yusf
My understanding is that anytype .io is similar to Notion. The developers say they plan to open source it after they release it.
It is built on IPFS. You can check out a video here:I have no affiliation. I just stumbled upon it and have been awaiting its release. If it lives up to the hype, I hope to somehow use it with cloudron
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@yusf
My understanding is that anytype .io is similar to Notion. The developers say they plan to open source it after they release it.
It is built on IPFS. You can check out a video here:I have no affiliation. I just stumbled upon it and have been awaiting its release. If it lives up to the hype, I hope to somehow use it with cloudron
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FYI: Notion just removed the block limits in the free plan: https://www.notion.so/pricing
Free for individuals
Unlimited pages & blocks
Share with 5 guests
Sync across devicesFile uploads still limited to 5 MB.
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https://github.com/outline/outline looks great but from the issue tracker it seems that author will not merge features like LDAP as they don't make sense for his SaaS.
@girish said in Notion-like FOSS app:
https://github.com/outline/outline looks great but from the issue tracker it seems that author will not merge features like LDAP as they don't make sense for his SaaS.
Although on their pricing page they do advertise SSO as an Enterprise option
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Would you consider CodiMD covers the main usage and needs that you get from Notion perhaps?
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And for an AirTable alternative I'm a big fan of what Directus makes easier:
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Would you consider CodiMD covers the main usage and needs that you get from Notion perhaps?
@marcuswquinn said in Notion-like FOSS app:
Would you consider CodiMD covers the main usage and needs that you get from Notion perhaps?
https://cloudron.io/store/io.hackmd.cloudronapp.htmlNo. It's not even remotely comparable.
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@marcuswquinn said in Notion-like FOSS app:
Would you consider CodiMD covers the main usage and needs that you get from Notion perhaps?
https://cloudron.io/store/io.hackmd.cloudronapp.htmlNo. It's not even remotely comparable.
@jdaviescoates Fair enough. I'm with you on keeping data on a platform you control though.
Outline looks cool, so
that LDAP pull request gets merged.Certainly interested in what else comes from this thread.
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And for an AirTable alternative I'm a big fan of what Directus makes easier:
Since I can't resist a FOSS Alternative search, this looks interesting if you're into AirTable:
LeanTime looks similar at first glance: https://leantime.io
More info in the Docs: https://docs.leantime.io
Not tried it and I've no idea on your usage and needs so just adding for the record really.
Personally I like Directus for being both standardised, openness and portable data.
If I were in the market for AirTable it would be difficult to choose it against Odoo but then if you want coddles you'd need an enterprise subscription for Odoo Studio: https://www.odoo.com/page/studio
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A couple more that look worth watching at least:
https://wiki.js.org (already on Cloudron)
https://anytype.io
https://github.com/anytypeio
https://twitter.com/AnytypeLabs -
Twake looks interesting: https://twake.app
