Discussion of Roam-like Knowledge Managers

Posted by Luhmann
Apr 17, 2020 at 01:38 AM

Inter-note using the [[wikilinks]] syntax is an emergent standard in markdown and is supported by Obsidian among others. Files exported from Roam work fine in Obsidian, although I had to run a script to convert #tags to [[links]]. (But one can use either method in Roam.) Other apps, such as FSNotes and 1Writer seem to support this standard, but do a search rather than linking directly to a particular file.

Regarding JSON export, I think this might be more for internal use by Roam, to more reliably migrate Roam data from one database to another.

Of course, many other Roam features will break on export however, such as Roam’s query and embed syntax which are unique to Roam, so your point well taken, I just wanted to qualify it somewhat based on my experience.

Paul Korm wrote:
I experimented with export from Roam. It led me to consider that
>lock-in is going to be a major problem with Roam. The export of notes
>to markdown is minimally useful because all the inter-note linking is
>non-functional in the export. I reject the JSON export as unrealistic
>—I like most are not about to look for third-party software just to be
>able to recapture data from JSON. JSON is readable but entirely
>unfriendly for common users.
> >So if Roam is only offering the illusion of backup and export, but
>nothing truly portable, that’s a major failing—in addition to the
>cloud-only nature of the service, and the flakey proprietor.