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VOID — my FOSS second-brain app (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Transhumanist@lemmy.ml to c/opensource@lemmy.ml
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Hey folks! I’m completely new to Lemmy and still figuring out how everything works around here... But I’d love to share a project I’ve been building.

It's called VOID (Versatile Open-source Infrastructure for Developers) - an open-source, local-first second-brain (note taking app but more powerful) application that combines the flexibility of Obsidian with the powerful organization of Notion.

Unlike many other tools, VOID is not just another note-taking app. It’s built with the idea of being a true second brain that you fully control. No vendor lock-in, no hidden cloud, no feature walls. Everything is open-source, customizable, and designed to adapt to your workflow instead of forcing you into someone else’s.

I'm currently building it with Rust, Tauri v2 and Vue.js. For certain plugins and configs, it also supports SurrealDB as a database.

check it out on my GitHub

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[-] PoisonedPrisonPanda@discuss.tchncs.de 108 points 1 week ago

Unlike many other tools, VOID is not just another note-taking app.

no offense. but if I got a penny for everytime Ive heard this....

[-] Transhumanist@lemmy.ml 36 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

no offense. but if I got a penny for everytime Ive heard this…

yeah, I know) but I try my best to make this project as perfect and useful as possible

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[-] vort3@lemmy.ml 33 points 1 week ago

the idea of being a true second brain

It's good that it's built with this idea, but what is the actual implementation of this idea? What features make it «a true second brain» that other «second brain» apps (obsidian and hundred other note taking apps) don't have?

[-] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago

I did a bunch of research into second brain/zettelkasten apps (that is to say, apps that support note taking with note interlinking and rich text) earlier this year, and I couldn't find a single app in the category that's (1) FOSS, (2) stores notes as .md files natively (Logseq will import/export to .md, but it's not native), and (3) is cross-platform in some way (for my purposes, I need it to be on Linux, Android, and Mac OS, or have a usable web app). Even the ones that get close all have some kind of gimmick to them, or are super ugly or slow or otherwise hard to use.

If Void can get those three nailed, and do it in a usable way, it will fill a very particular and exciting niche.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 week ago

I know this won't go over well here but I don't really care that Obsidian isn't FOSS, because it's just a frontend for markdown files in folders. There's no lock-in whatsoever, and it being FOSS or not makes no functional difference.

[-] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago

I broadly agree with you, but I would still prefer to have another option so that if/when Obsidian goes the Notion route, I have another option to jump to easily.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago

Me too, but I figure a clone will pop up very quickly if that happens, and I'll already have an easily portable folder with markdown files.

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[-] Tundra@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The more the merrier - have you had a chance to try anytype out?

they have this local sync function that works even without any internet (sort of like a LAN?)

its been really handy for me as I often work in places without internet, but retain the ability to sync between laptop & phone.

(Also are notifications and kanbans on the roadmap?)

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[-] gon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago

Cool!! Will definitely check it out.

[-] hansolo@lemmy.today 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

There's already many foss notes apps.

What none of them do well is syncing and collaboration without paying for hosting or self hosting. Joplin lets me workaround this with 2 Dropbox files (1 per profile, 1 being a shared profile) and it's a pain. And the Dropbox file isn't encrypted.

An encrypted API access file I can shove anywhere and use would be lovely as an option. Anyway I can share across users would be lovely.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

What none of them do well is syncing and collaboration without paying for hosting or self hosting.

Not to pick on you here, but you're surprised that nobody is bulding an app for free and then paying for a server to also give away for free? Open source devs already struggle to make ends meet - now they're supposed to operate at a loss?

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[-] communism@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago

What none of them do well is syncing and sharing notes without paying for hosting or self hosting.

What about Notesnook's monograph functionality? Unless you mean sharing as in collaboration not publishing

[-] hansolo@lemmy.today 2 points 1 week ago

I mean collaboration, I'll edit. Thanks for asking.

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[-] antipiratgruppen@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 week ago

This looks cool, and I like your thoughts on it! Are you planning on an Android release too, somewhere down the road?

[-] Transhumanist@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago

Yep, android version is already in my roadmap! I'll start building it after VOID's beta-release

[-] mrcheeseman@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

I will definitely be checking this out!

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this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
366 points (98.2% liked)

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