Germany has just made the standard Open Document Format (ODF) mandatory
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/03/19/germanys-sovereign-digital-stack-mandates-odf
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/03/19/germanys-sovereign-digital-stack-mandates-odf
35 Comments
sakphul@discuss.tchncs.de · 210 pts · 167d
This is something very important: Don't focus on aplications (FOSS or not) but on open data formats and proper import/export mechanisms so you can switch applications easily.
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 50 pts · 167d
Its the base layer required for the long game yeah
AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social · 41 pts · 167d
That's why I use Obsidian! It's not open source, but all my notes are just... pre-emptively saved as markdown files on disk. If they fuck me over I can just leave and open it in literally any markdown editor đ
If they used a proprietary format, I probably just wouldn't have used them in the first place and would have had to use a shittier alternative.
R00bot@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 166d
Same! Them using markdown means I've been able to make an Obsidian-like app for Wear OS, with a phone app to sync your vault to the watch. Wouldn't have been possible if they weren't using markdown. Hoping to launch it on the Google Play store in a month or so :)
lelovsky@szmer.info · 5 pts · 166d
I love obsidian, I wanted to send a donation, but they only sell merch with expensive shipping :<
sheogorath@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 166d
Sub to their sync service for just one month?
lelovsky@szmer.info · 3 pts · 166d
Never thought about it, thanks for a suggestion
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 4 pts · 166d
Which markdown format?
GitHub or Stack Exchange or Reddit?
AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social · 5 pts · 166d
A combination of CommonMark and GitHub Flavored Markdown so it's compatible with most markdown formatting people are used to. Also supports LaTeX and HTML. (and of course any custom syntax modifications you make with custom CSS or plugins)
ornery_chemist@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 166d
Obsidian is pretty good. I currently use Logseq, which has a slightly different model that clicked a bit better for me. As a bonus, it's open-source.
u_tamtam@programming.dev · -2 pts · 166d
You could, I don't know, use an open source note taking app? I mean, it's not like obsidian has some unique and unmatched capabilities ÂŻâ \â _â (â ăâ )â _â /â ÂŻ
Narwhalrus@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 166d
Do you have any recommendations?
u_tamtam@programming.dev · 2 pts · 166d
Since it's a topic that comes back often on /c/selfhosted@lemmy.world I didn't want to open new floodgates, but I can only warmly recommend https://triliumnotes.org/ :-)
JustEnoughDucks@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 166d
What is a plaintext (non-database) md editor that had wikilinks, LaTeX, back links, tags, PDF export, properties and dataviews, and a plugin community? Plus it needs an android app and desktop app that can be synced (even just via syncthing) seamlessly.
I am always open for switching!
fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 166d
https://joplinapp.org/
Seems interesting
Im a VSCodium kind of guy myself
JustEnoughDucks@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 166d
Vscodium for notes, interesting.
I looked into joplin before obsidian actually, but it is much more of a standard note taker, not good for zettelkasten sort of notes (link and tag focused)
fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 165d
Im.very into "AsCode" and pretty comfortable with vi bindings. So the two extremes where i document (random notes with no structure needed and formally verified documentation ) it works for me.
I can preview the markdown, use vale rules to enforce style and vocab, do mermaid.js diagrams, link my UML to stuff, etc.
Then check into git to do version control or just to save it off local.
u_tamtam@programming.dev · 2 pts · 166d
Joplin is reasonably good as long as you don't use so much metadata to keep things organised. It's also pretty rigid, and hence limiting. If you want something with the superficial simplicity of joplin, but that would scale up to your needs, I recommend giving https://triliumnotes.org/ a good look.
u_tamtam@programming.dev · 1 pts · 166d
If you drop the plaintext requirement (which IMO is anachronistic, if not for the necessity to fend against a potentially turning hostile developer in a close-source set-up), you may find https://triliumnotes.org/ liberating.
If you must stick to the "notes as plain text files" paradigm, siyuan is better than obsidian in about every aspect, and logseq in other, more niche ones. Trilium is better than them all (IMHO), being the only one that does "note as data" correctly and efficiently (you don't have the same data model divide like seen in notion between notes and databases).
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 166d
The silence is deafening, because there isnât a FOSS program that comes close to Obsidianâs functionality. This isnât the first time Iâve seen someone drop the âlul just use FOSS insteadâ line to garner upvotes, when literally no FOSS alternative exists. There are some FOSS programs that come close in some regards, but none of them do everything Obsidian does and support multiple platforms.
Lemmy has an obsession with FOSS (for good reason) but that means many users basically try to act like FOSS vegans. Theyâd use six different (and largely incompatible) FOSS programs just to scratch the surface of what a closed-source program can do. And their hackles start to raise if you ever point out that there arenât FOSS alternatives for everything.
u_tamtam@programming.dev · 3 pts · 166d
ok, but there's not much substance to your comment besides unsubstantiated "zealotry" towards obsidian and some general hot takes against lemmy and the FOSS community through which it emerged.
Maybe you could start listing out a few aspects and features of obsidian that you deem so important and unique, and I'm sure that you may discover a few very compelling alternatives.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm all set with https://triliumnotes.org/ . It's not just a more versatile and capable note taking app, it's also one that I can deploy simultaneously "local first" and "as a web service", so my notes are reachable everywhere (even where I'm not allowed to install the heavy client).
fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 166d
The silence of two hours ago lol
Chill brother. Like i get it, and FOSS advocates should lead with meaningful alternitives first imho, but there definitly seems to be some https://joplinapp.org/
I personally prefer vscodium and nvim myself for notes but that isnt a one for one comparison to obsidian (in either direction) imho
Chulk@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 166d
I'm an Obsidian user myself, but I have heard good things about Logseq
ActualCommunistLearning@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 167d
eager_eagle@lemmy.world · 192 pts · 167d
incredibly based
uuj8za@piefed.social · 16 pts · 167d
Hell yeah!
mogoh@lemmy.ml · 48 pts · 167d
I think this is not (entirely) true. Or at least I have some questions:
BTW: https://deutschland-stack.gov.de/
I have searched a bit further: For federal and state governments, ODF is binding through IT Planning Council resolutions and federal guidelines, but there is no formal law yet mandating its use. Also, this is not binding for local authorities, but virtual it is.
https://www.it-planungsrat.de/beschluss/beschluss-2025-06
Tja@programming.dev · 12 pts · 167d
Thank you for the effort!
ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml · 41 pts · 167d
It's a typo, they wanted to make support of the IDF mandatory
pastermil@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 166d
Lmao, that's fucken dark
agelord@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 166d
Wouldn't be surprised.
uuj8za@piefed.social · 27 pts · 167d
Meanwhile OnlyOffice is saving to Macroslop format by default: https://piefed.social/c/libreoffice/p/1803568/libreoffice-blasts-fake-open-source-onlyoffice-for-working-with-microsoft-to-lock-users
morto@piefed.social · 24 pts · 167d
At least something good amid all the bad news regarding the future of software systems
RichRARobi@mastodon.social · 6 pts · 167d
@FirmDistribution
Britain is unlikely to take this sensible move because the gullible, naive, stupid, British #ukgovernment have allowed sharp sales from #usa to take over the country.
#NHS sold out
#metOffice sold out
#RAF sold out
#ukgovernment sold out
#starmer lobbying bribes
#lammy lobbying bribes
RedGreenBlue@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 167d
Neat!
xia@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 158d
Bravo. Can't believe it has taken this long for a gov't to realize storing everything in a poorly obfuscated format makes no sense.