Is anyone currently self hosting an Anytype backup node? In case you don’t know, Anytype is a privacy focused, local first note app. Can be found in anytype.io. Their docs give informartion on how to self host. I only have a laptop, so I’m trying to create a node in a VirtualBox VM, using Vagrant to automate box creation and provision. Sorry if the post is messed up, first timer here.
Just wanted to chime in and give a +1 to Anytype. While I haven’t self-hosted the backup node and I can’t help you with that just yet, the fact that a free, P2P decentralized, end-to-end encrypted and source-available notes app like Anytype even exists is awesome!
I’d be curious to see if you manage to get the backup node up and running 👀
I can’t configure everything yet, but my Vagrantfile can install and activate most of the dependecies on a Fedora Box from Bento (the Hashicorp, developer of Vagrant, builds those optimized system images). Activating Redis with RedisBloom plugin from boot is prooving tricky. After setting the dependencies, I need to configure Ansible and then export the node settings to be used in the app. It’ll take me some time. I’ll let you know.
I tried anytype during the alpha, but I understood early on that the data is crippled during export, and the self host node is very cumbersome to set up. Also, I had a gut feeling that it could turn into a enshittified product.
For my usecase, I could achieve my note taking needs by other more established, libre and less complex means.
Hum… Can you tell me what you’re using? Just to give me some ideas.
Not the user you’ve asked but I’m using Silverbullet and have been loving it, it ticks every box of what I was looking for:
- Self hosted
- Stores files in plain markdown text format
- You can edit those files externally and Silverbullet picks up the changes
- Allows customization and expansion easily
- Provides queries that allow you to extend markdown to pull data from other files
- These use an SQLite db to get these things to work fast, but if you delete them they get regenerated
- Can be easily synchronized with multiple nodes by using synching to sync the markdown files
I settled on obsidian with the built in sync. The data is as clean as it gets - its very agnostic to the editor as long as it adheres to the markdown standard (plus flavors). I’m aware that I’m creating a dependency on obsidians workflow and plugins, but the cost of switching is very low considering how I use my knowledge base (I could in work case scenario work with my files with standard Unix tools).
You are free to choose whatever tool that works for you, personally I don’t want my notes to be held hostage by a single vendor.
The closest to Anytype is logseq, but silver bullet.md is also awesome. And if you choose another markdown editor, you could use rsync/git/syncthing to synchronize your files.
When it comes to note applications, there is no shortage of them. Just make a informed decision that will serve you well in the long term.
