nextcloud / notes

✎ Distraction-free notes and writing
https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/notes
GNU Affero General Public License v3.0
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Advertise which flavour of markdown Nextcloud Notes uses #477

Open macau23 opened 4 years ago

macau23 commented 4 years ago

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. Could you please advertise which flavour of markdown you use? It would make migration from other solutions (such as Google Keep via Takeout) much easier combined with pandoc.

Describe the solution you'd like pandoc supports several version of markdown:

To convert without problems we need to know the flavour!

Describe alternatives you've considered sed

Additional context for i in *html; do pandoc -f html -t someMarkdownFlavour "$i" > "$i.md"; done

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korelstar commented 4 years ago

I understamd that this is wanted, but I don't think that we can realize this. It's because we don't implement a markdown editor by ourselves, but use existing libraries for this part. In fact, currently, we use different libraries for edit mode and preview mode; the Android app uses a different library, too. All these libraries do support different subset of markdown and are subject to change / to be switched (see #331). Therefore it's impossible to make a full, durable specification.

However, you could have a look at the used libraries and their supported flavor (with the knowledge that this can change from time to time). Currently, we use EasyMDE for edit mode and Markdown-it for preview mode. If you find a common flavor, I would be happy to document this in the README.

RobertZenz commented 4 years ago

In fact, currently, we use different libraries for edit mode and preview mode; the Android app uses a different library, too. All these libraries do support different subset of markdown and are subject to change / to be switched (see #331). Therefore it's impossible to make a full, durable specification.

So, depending on whether you're using the Web-UI or the app, depending on whether or not you run an update, your documents might display correctly or not?

stefan-niedermann commented 4 years ago

Like in every software which runs on multiple platforms and builds on native technology-stacks: yes. And like every software there might be bugs in a new version. We simply can't promise that this will never be the case 🤷‍♂ We are all human in the end.

I am sure that you didn't read the license of the software you are using, so let me please quote 😉 :

the GPL clearly explains that there is no warranty for this free software.

See, we do our best in our free time to make the software run well. And even if we are only a community and not directly connected to each other, we do our best that the notes look mostly the same on all devices.

Every contribution to Notes is therefore welcome, especially if you are capable of quality / testing skills. 🚀 Maybe you can contribute automated tests or even want to become a beta tester at the Play Store?

RobertZenz commented 4 years ago

I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is, you'll only hear a rant from me this last time, promised. The bad news, you're going to hear a rant from me.


Like in every software which runs on multiple platforms and builds on native technology-stacks: yes.

Like any software that shares the users data between platforms, you should acknowledge that is your responsibility to keep that data consistent, that includes how it is displayed. Changes happen, bugs happen, but to say "well, yeah, we never checked and do not care" is not okay.

We simply can't promise that this will never be the case man_shrugging We are all human in the end.

There's a difference between stating such a thing and hiding behind it.

I am sure that you didn't read the license of the software you are using, so let me please quote wink :

the GPL clearly explains that there is no warranty for this free software.

That's funny, because I always took that as an "all your data got lost because of this bug, I'm sorry" insurance, and not "yeah, you see, I really don't need to care" excuse.

See, we do our best in our free time to make the software run well. And even if we are only a community and not directly connected to each other, we do our best that the notes look mostly the same on all devices.

*glances.over.at.nextcloud.gmbh* I constantly hear that, and it always confuses me.


Nextcloud suffers, in my opinion, an extreme lag of long-term stability and fine-tuning, especially in the app area. Yes, I get it, some of you are doing this on their own, free time, yes, I get it that I'm not obliged to anything and I'm grateful to have what I get, and if Nextcloud would offer a private tier, I'd take it. But you contribute to an ecosystem that has immense value and importance in a lot of areas, and that is something this community must realize for once. You are a monopoly! If there would be an alternative I'd drop Nextcloud so fast that it would make a dent in my floor, but there isn't. You can't drop things and hope that somebody else picks it up, and you can't just hide behind the no-warranty-license. If you want a case-study of how that turns out, have a look at GNOME/GTK.

You're providing a text editor here, complete with a rendering of said text...and now you tell me that you can't ensure that this looks the same on all platforms because you never looked at the components you're using? That's bullshit!

stefan-niedermann commented 4 years ago

Well, that escalated quickly.

we never checked and do not care

I never said that and i never would. I agree that this is not okay. But it is a fact that it can happen. If it does never happen to you, i would love to get you on board! 🙂

Nextcloud suffers, in my opinion, an extreme lag of long-term stability and fine-tuning, especially in the app area

The Notes Android client for example exists and is constantly developed for more than 5 years - and is still maintained. What exactly do you expect?

If there would be an alternative I'd drop Nextcloud so fast that it would make a dent in my floor, but there isn't.

I am sorry to hear that. There are various alternatives like ownCloud, Seafile or (if you only care about notes) Evernote, Keep, etc. Even for Nextcloud there are alternatives like Joplin. If there is no project out there that matches your needs 100% you cannot blame the projects which are there for free and work for thousands of people well.

you can't ensure that this looks the same on all platforms because you never looked at the components you're using?

That's correct, i can't ensure that. I simply don't know how. If you can: Tell me how, and not only will I be smarter then, but everyone profits :) Again: I would love to see contributions by you, maybe you can even start with a good first issue?

Last but not least:

There's a difference between stating such a thing and hiding behind it.

There's also a difference between a discussion and a rant. I will always happy to discuss issues, in separate tickets. Please feel free to open up new issues , so we can try to solve them. If we are not able to, you can give us a hint, contribute, test or do something other useful. But please keep in mind, that the time that it tooks to read and answer your quiet disrespectful

That's bullshit!

-yells, is time which i cannot work on the Android notes app.

If you have further questions, please contact me directly via E-Mail at info@niedermann.it or at least open a separate issue, so we don't have to flood this issue and keep @korelstar from the real work.

korelstar commented 4 years ago

Let's go back to topic, here.

I don't think the situation is that bad. We do care and we do try to harmonize the supported Markdown flavors. All components have a common subset which works. I.e., all components support basic syntax like

Furthermore, we try to implement checkboxes (e.g. - [x] item), but this is not yet available for all components.

So I think that's what we can "guarantee" (i.e. if it doesn't work, it's a bug that should be fixed).

@macau23 Is there a flavor in pandoc which has the same scope?

macau23 commented 4 years ago

Is there a flavor in pandoc which has the same scope?

The docs show this list of differences: https://pandoc.org/MANUAL.html#markdown-variants

korelstar commented 4 years ago

And which one is appropriate, here?

macau23 commented 4 years ago

Relevant: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/348746/were-switching-to-commonmark

davidbannon commented 4 years ago

Adding my two cents worth. I'm looking at syncing between (or exporting/importing) NextCloud Notes and tomboy-ng, a more traditional desktop note tool. While I already import and export a (not very carefully selected) subset of markdown, I have plans to move over to using CommonMark and was relieved to read that Markdown-It declares for CommonMark.

So far, my experience exchanging between Tomboy and NextCloud Notes is good, but -

So, my questions - is it likely that NextCloud notes will use the Markdown-It plug in for subscript ? And any thoughts about the 'Mark' tag ?

Davo

silopolis commented 1 year ago

Currently, we use EasyMDE for edit mode and Markdown-it for preview mode. If you find a common flavor, I would be happy to document this in the README.

Looks like both support CommonMark so that'd be a good choice to settle on.