Is it just me or was anybody else not sure what Obsidian was while reading this article?
The article doesn't explain it at all, so I'm left wondering if I'm incredibly out of the loop or whether this is a very niche thing that I haven't run into yet.
If I'd try to describe/categorize it, I'd call it a local, ?most often? single-user, scriptable and plugginable wiki-software.
I use it for taking notes, keeping a journal, TODO-list, and to bookmark/annotate stuff. Basically my own personal "knowledge base".
Technology-wise it saves notes as markdown, optionally with a yaml-style frontmatter, built on/with javascript, and exposes a bunch of APIs making it very extensible.
A strength/weakness with it is that it exposes the end-user to all this power, and does not enforce much in the way of ways of working, so you get to define for yourself how you go about using it.
I have mostly settled on workflows that works for me, but it also seems, if I am being completely honest, like there is always some little tweaking/refactoring going on.
It's kinda obvious from the context if you know that space, but yes, it's leaving out many explanations. It's not well written for random visitors.
Anyway, Obsidian is a knowledge-tool, using Markdown. It's for taking notes, collecting information and aims to support the user in building their network of knowledge. It's pretty powerful for a markdown-editor/manager, especially because it's supporting plugins, which is feeding a small community of developers bringing up all kind of ways to enhance Obsidian.
Obsidian is very popular and well known on this site, though attention for this space comes in waves, and I would say the big hype is over for the moment. So depending on what you read here, it's possible you just missed it.
this isn't a cool take (specifically words like "kinda obvious" and generally the sentiment which obligates the reader to have awareness of the subject) and we shouldn't assume readers here know everything or a single thing is "well known".
In short, it's a free note-taking app using the Markdown syntax, storing files locally and with wiki-like linking, tagging, a plugin system and tons of community plugins. Using it, you can organize knowledge, ideas, references, keep a journal, and more.
The article doesn't explain it at all, so I'm left wondering if I'm incredibly out of the loop or whether this is a very niche thing that I haven't run into yet.