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General Software Discussion / Re: I'm thinking of going primitive, with discursion into zettelkasten
« Last post by wraith808 on November 19, 2020, 07:53 AM »As you know, I have a much more nuanced approach to databases.
I'm OK with Writemonkey 3 with its coterminous files. I have my data in files and the extra features that come from the database (which include, I assume, its very good folding). Most writing programs have some sort of database; some also have files and some save much of the data in files.-Dormouse (November 19, 2020, 04:01 AM)
I'm actually not opposed to databases as it might seem. I don't care about something being in a db, if I also have it in files. It's the reason that I still use Scrivener, Writemonkey, and Cintanotes. In all three cases, I have the content of the database/project replicated in plain text elsewhere.
Obsidian has never been totally clear about what is saved where. Some is saved in the vault folder. But a large part has been moved to a json in a system folder.
It talks about vaults, and how every fault is totally separate, but then the data from every vault is in the same system folder in readable format.
It seems hard coded to only look at one location. If it's empty it writes another set.
And it has just announced saved searches. So a reiteration of the same question in my head - 'What is saved, where?'. I'm sure the answer will be that central json, but I'll have to run a few searches and do a file check to see exactly what's there. And will only be quick because I will know what I'm looking for and can do a search.
For me, it's straightforward poor design and not thinking through the implications of choices. Fixing a small immediate problem - today easier, tomorrow harder, and just don't think about next week.
Most of the immediate problems can be overcome. I control what I use it for. I can remove and encrypt the system file between uses (though that would always irritate me). And I can to a detailed test of every update (though they are weekly, more or less; I think I'll make it less going forward, updating is starting to feel too much effort for a small gain).
The big question about any developing software is where it's going to end up and how confident you can be about both quality and direction. This is where I now favour your Frankenstein model, though my version may look completely different to yours. Obsidian might be some part of it, maybe.-Dormouse (November 19, 2020, 04:01 AM)
You bring up some good points. I haven't opened Obsidian in a long while; at the time that I did it, it seemed that all files were in the Obsidian folder, i.e. if I created files in VS Code, Obsidian seemed to pick it up and pick up the changes if I had both open. I apparently (a) haven't kept up with Obsidian changes, or (b) was just unaware that it stored other files in other locations. That's really concerning to me, and I might just go ahead and uninstall it as it's sort of withered on the vine in my workflow.
