Digital notebook

Since the days of OneNote I've been using digital notebooks to keep my notes safe and synchronised. Right now I'm using Joplin, a free and open-source

Joplin works for me because:

  • Cross platform: It has native clients for Mac, Linux, Android and more.
  • Native Markdown support: All notebook content is stored as plain-text Markdown. This makes it easy to apply simple styles inside the notes and ensures that the notes are portable and readable outside of Joplin.
  • Local filesystem storage: Each note is saved as an individual file. This makes it easy to synchronise notebook files between my phone and laptop, even merging changes across different notes without generating conflictss.
  • Simple hierarchy: Joplin's key domain objects are notebooks, which contain notes. This forces me to keep a clean structure, instead of infinitely nesting notes or abusing "sub-notebooks".
  • Private synchronisation: I can use a File synchronisation tool (like SyncThing) to personally manage my notebooks, instead of being forced to use a cloud solution or rely on the vendor's synchrinisation tool.

If you have feedback or questions about this article, let's catch up via email.

Now (2026-03-18)Automating automationsSmartifying your devicesCHCon 2025 Badge ChallengeNorth Vietnam trip 2024LEGO: Tangara (2025)