Hi guys! I think I’m over Joplin. Don’t get me wrong, it’s simple, it works, but… why is it Postgres db…. I have the server on a small box with like 250 GB of space and backing it up with kopia to Backblaze with free 10 GB, so I’m a bit storage cautious.
With each snapshot, it seems like a good chunk of the database changes, even when I don’t use Joplin that day. That results in kopia backing up those changed files, and backups keep growing. Right now the Joplin database is like 200Mb, BUT when I export the notes from the app… all of them weigh 2Mb… including images. Yes there is versioning of notes, but they shouldn’t be that big after one-two months lol.
I know I know, I’m being a bit weird about it, but I’m getting daily notifications about backups and I see how they grow each day.
Anyway, do you have any alternatives that have an app on iOS and on Linux? Or should I just use Apple Notes in the browser? Thanks
EDIT: The answer was easier than I thought. Just don’t back it up, it’s synced which means each device has a copy of it anyway so there is not really need for it, thanks @vvv@programming.dev !
why is it Postgres db…
Why on earth are you using that? Just use WebDAV, you’ll only be required to have some WebDAV server such as Nginx and it will sync GB of notes without issues. https://joplinapp.org/help/apps/sync/webdav/ https://medium.com/learn-or-die/build-a-webdav-server-with-nginx-8660a7a7311
I would’ve NEVER ever moved to Joplin if it wasn’t able to sync with WebDAV. I’m not into having a special daemon running on a server for that task, makes zero sense.
I need to look into webDAV then :D
Yes you do ahaha
This is the way.
Did you know that you can use Joplin on a standard webdav server? Basically it just takes up the space of the data itself. I have it on a Caddy server and works like q charm synching between Windows and Android client
Came here to say just that. The WebDAV synchronization target is great.
Yeah, I’m yet to play around with WebDAV or learning what it actually is haha Will look into it, thanks :)
Logseq. That is all. (Oh, and syncthing…)
I find their paradigm… different and not entirely sure if I like it yet, need to look into it more :)
Do you mind expanding a bit on how you use joplin? I’m curious about the difference you found compared to logseq
I use it just as a simple as possible, instructions on how I setup backups, important thing about container’s config, etc etc. I find it easier to just have a folder “Server” and put each container in a separate note or folder. It’s too much thinking about tags, links, pages and all in logseq, notes seem all over the place.
Yep, now, I initially found the daily journal approach a bit strange, but I use this for work as much as personal stuff, so it actually helps…
My suggestion to your usecase would be to keep a page per “thing” ie server / container / etc and then when you make a change you can just say (on that day’s journal page):
‘’ Setup a backup for [[Server X]] and it’s going to [[NAS2]] (for example) ‘’
Then, on either of those 2 pages you’ll automatically see the link back to the journal page, so you’ll know when you did it…
I think you can disable the journal approach if it’s not useful…
But, the important part is, the files underlying the notes you’re making are in plain text with the page name as the filename, whereas with Joplin you could never find the file…
Also, if you modify the file (live) outside of Logseq, it copes with that and refreshes the content onscreen.
And the links are all dynamic… renamed the NAS? Fine, Logseq will reindex all the pages for you…
I would be willing to try it, but the workarounds to get sync on iOS are what makes me not do it
Is Logseq FOSS ?
Connect it to a DAV server and you dont have to learn a new software.
Gotta learn about that DAV thing everyone is talking about ig haha
Use Nextcloud AIO mastercontainer, set up joplin with Nextcloud sync (which is webdav). Use the builtin backup function in Nextcloud AIO container to backup nextcloud and the files it contains that are your joplin notes (and anything else you use nextcloud for).
I even use Nextcloud for its Gpoddersync app to keep my podcast subs/progress from Antennapod.
Yeah the lack of actual .md files is what killed Joplin for me. Obviously not FOSS but there are self hosted options for Obsidian.
Oops I thought you were going to be ragging on an early jazz genre.
Can you not just backup the pg txn logs (with periodic full backups, purged in accordance with your needs?). That’s a much safer way to approach DBs anyway.
(exclude the online db files from your file system replication)
I recently switched from Joplin to Obsidian for different reasons. I’d prefer something FOSS, but so far I’ve been happy with the transition. Since it works with plain markdown files, it would fit your use case
I’ve switched from Obsidian to Joplin actually, cos syncing was a chore and Joplin is more straightforward imo
If you’re after some help with the WebDAV part I set it up for myself recently and would be happy to help adapt my stuff to your stack (mine is Apache + compose, but would be about just as easy with anything else). Reply here or DM any time 💯
And good on you for being turned around on your original premise and being so gracious about it in the comments mate 👍
Awesome, thanks! For now I’ll stay on the db without backups. Joplin saves copies to other devices so if something fails, I still have the other devices :)
Notesnook is great. Not yet self-hostable (server is open source), but they are working on it.
Seconding what others have already said. You should ABSOLUTELY NOT directly back up /var/lib/postgresql if that’s what you’re doing right now. Instead, use pg_dump: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/backup-dump.html
This should also give you smaller and probably more compressible backup sizes.
Joplin server also will use a file based storage instead of the db. And db then is only used for users
I use joplin as i share notes and collaborate with my wife. Obsidian etc dont do that. Id love to be on obsidian as i really like it but sharing notebooks is mandatory
This is why I’m moving to Joplin too
Simplenote, Notesnook, Obsidian.
Obsidian sync isn’t free, and it’s easy to violate their license if you mix work and personal notes.
I think Joplin tends to be better than most. If Obsidian was licensed and charged differently I might change my mind.
Free and open-source.
