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nuttyartist
notes
C++2022–2025
nuttyartist / notes

notes

Fast and beautiful note-taking app written in C++. Write down your thoughts.

ProductivityMobile & Desktop
Explore on GitHubRead Hacker News discussions
3Distinct people
32Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
4.3KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

Fast and beautiful note-taking app written in C++. Write down your thoughts.

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use has been verified yet.

What people are saying

No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 7:24:48 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year32 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2022-09-14 14:42:23 UTC to 2025-12-07 23:09:18 UTC.

0369122022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 6 mentions; 1 submissions, 5 comments20222023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 12 mentions; 0 submissions, 12 comments20232024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 12 mentions; 0 submissions, 12 comments2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments2025

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC615
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC12012
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC12012
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202

What Hacker News says

12 sources
rubymamis·Dec 26, 2023
These are all great questions. 1. Notes is completely open-source[1]. There are some awesome maintainers who help me fix and update things and sometimes even implement new features. When Plume will be released, of course, I'll put much less time into Notes (as already the case). But since Notes is licensed under MPL and Plume is built on top of it, all files used from Notes will be open source as well, so any improvement from Plume could be potentially incorporated into Notes. 2. The reason for creating Plume is that I always wanted[2] to create an advanced editor (a la Notion) but only recently realized how to be able to do it using C++ (handling the model) and QML (handling the view). I had to implement many things from scratch (undo/redo/copy/paste/multi-block-editing/etc). 3. I recently discussed my reasoning to go close-source[3]. I'
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ve been working night and day (every day) converting 4 cups of coffee into code for the last 4 months to create Plume. I don't want to risk not being rewarded sufficiently for it. But, I'm 99% sure that I'll either open source the core block editor or the entire app in the future. [1] https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes [2] https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes/issues/317 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38584960
In Obsidian 1.5 Desktop (Public)
rubymamis·Dec 9, 2023
There are some amazing people that valued what I'm doing. One person even donated $1000 years ago. But that doesn't make it sustainable. I think it's time for me to compete on the market. I believe Plume is going to be a good addition to the pool of productivity apps today, but I'll let people judge that when it's released. I hope you will sign up to get an update[2] and let me know what you think of it when it is released. BTW, are you suggesting I copied Standard Notes? Not really, I don't like their design. Notes is in active development since 2014 (first commit on GitHub in 2015), back then I didn't even know about Standard Notes and the core design barely changed. [1] https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes/releases/tag/v0.8.0-bet... [2] https://www.get-plume.com/
In Make Apps for Linux
rubymamis·Dec 9, 2023
The problem is OSS software not even trying to compete with the market. People using OSS software taking it for granted that the UX is going to be subpar, and it really is. Regular propriety software faces the risk of their users not paying, therefore adapting to make end user experience great. OSS usually doesn't have that risk. Open source needs to be exposed to risk from end users. I tried to change that with Notes[1] but I find it hard to live on solely on ads. I tried to incorporate paying for some premium features (like Kanban) but the app is still fully FOSS therefore everyone can compile it from source easily. I think I'll close-source my next app[2] before it launches. I just can't risk not being paid for my hard work. I also believe the Linux community will benefit from that, since getting paid will allow me to invest more in ma
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king UX-focused apps on Linux. I might open source some parts of it tho (or maybe all of it in the far future). [1] https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes [2] https://www.get-plume.com
In Make Apps for Linux
rubymamis·Jul 27, 2023
Hello everyone, We just released a new version of our note-taking app: GitHub: https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes Website: https://www.get-notes.com Flathub: https://flathub.org/apps/io.github.nuttyartist.notes One of the new cool features is that it can turn your Markdown tasks into a beautiful Kanban board. Currently, in order to support our open source project, editing inside the Kanban is for Pro users only ($29.99 one time payment), but anyone who wishes not to pay, can easily compile the source and access all Pro features at no cost. Let us know what you think! P.S. The new version is still waiting to be uploaded on Flathub but very soon you'll be able to get it there.
In Turn Markdown Tasks into Beautiful Kanban Board. Qt C++ & QML. No Electron. FOSS
rubymamis·Jul 21, 2023
> Though slight nitpicks, these breaking changes were probably entirely NextJS changes and not React changes. Yes, you're right that's probably the case. > I read the article and I'm skeptical that most QML code is compiled to C++. Well, all the core Qt Quick components are written in C++[1]. Other components either reuses them in C++ or QML. So they're mostly C++ underneath. > QML doesn't even allow you to type your list or object properties! How much of your QML code doesn't touch lists or objects? What do you mean? JS object (like JSON?)? I'm quite sure QML supports object property. And JS list? There's this[2]. > QML is unsafe because it's a dynamically typed languages. I get your point. Although there is qmllint that warns you of many such things before compilation even[3]. It's great. It's a shame they don't easily integrate it int
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o Qt Creator by default. It saved me many errors. In your first example, I wonder why it does its behavior where it concatenates an int like a string. That's weird. > The facts are that your users would run into much less runtime errors with TypeScript code than C++/QMLScript code. Also, TypeScript provides much more immediate feedback while developing. I think that's a good take. And maybe something Qt should consider adding on top of QML. > wonder how much of this is actually React and how much is using dynamic JavaScript. I just remember handling state changes wasn't that natural to me (maybe it's the use of Hooks?). TypeScript does sound interesting, but I'm a QML convert for now. > I'm curious about what you think QML really excels at First - using Qt Quick - native performance. But talking about the language itself - I can't get over how amazing property bindings and signal and slots are for state changes. Just these alone would make me quit any web framework. They are so simple yet incredibly versatile and powerful. It just makes sense to work with them than any Hooks or whatever in React. Then the Model/View paradigm of Qt fits so well into QML is just awesome. > What all did the prototype include? Well, you can easily grab a binary from our GitHub Actions and try it out[4] or compile it from source. The basics for the Kanban were to 1. Process the markdown tasks in TextEdit 2. Beautiful interface 3. Beautiful drag and drop like `react-beautiful-dnd` 4. Markdown inside of tasks. 5. Rendering fast with even thousands of tasks. > I'm constantly looking for the best way to build UIs, and right now Svelte seems like the best. Me too. But I'm reluctant to non-native performance anymore. I had enough of Electron apps. That's why I was trying React Native (I had a good experience with it but I still prefer QML) and Tauri. I really can't remember why I disliked tauri (maybe i tried to create a custom window decoration but couldn't?). If you ever give it a shot let me know what you think about it. But then again, I'm sold on the flexibility of Qt C++ together with QML. > I imagine OS native web views might be better at rendering certain UIs than Qt's rendering. Why is that? Qt is using the underline accelerated graphics APIs to render its content[5]. Even if a component isn't native we say it's native-like because it still uses the native graphic API just not the native component. > It's super interesting hearing all your thoughts, and would love to hear more. Thanks! I learned a lot from what you're saying. I have plans to create an ecosystem of open-source cross-platform apps, so I've been deliberating for the longest time on which framework to choose. For now, I've settled on Qt/QML. It has its cons. But that's why I like talking about it with other people so I can document these, file the right reports and maybe improve it as time goes by. After releasing the next version of my note-taking app I plan to migrate the UI completely to QML and create an adaptable/responsive app that will share the same source for desktop and mobile, taking inspiration from MAUI apps[6] that our based on MAUIKit[7]. [1]https://code.qt.io/cgit/qt/qtdeclarative.git/tree/src/quick/... [2] https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qml-list.html [3] https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qtquick-tool-qmllint.html [4]https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes/actions/runs/5565887776 [5] https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/topics-graphics.html [6] https://mauikit.org/apps/ [7] https://mauikit.org
In What dif­fer­enti­ates front-end frame­works
rubymamis·Jul 6, 2023
Shameless plug for my native (Qt C++ based) open-source, cross-platform note-taking app[1]. It's fast, beautiful, and just works. The next version will add an option to turn your Markdown tasks into a beautiful Kanban view[2] via QML. This feature will be paid but anyone will be able to compile the source with a simple CMake flag to get the PRO version for free. Currently, it uses a DB but we aim to port it to support arbitrary folder (simple .md/.json files, depending on the complexity of the editor). I'm working on a mobile version and a built-in sync option as well. Once the built-in syncing is complete I will probably only charge for that and the client itself will be completely free. [1] https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes [2] https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes/pull/574
In Joplin – An open-source note taking and to-do application with synchronisation
rubymamis·Jun 28, 2023
Because they don't care. The vast majority of programmers are people for whom practicality triumphs over aesthetics. If you ever tried to polish something endlessly you know it's a lot of work. Most programmers see it as useless work. As an open-source developer, I decided to change this state of affairs and create an ecosystem of open-source apps that focuses on user experience and aesthetics while not compromising power users. I've been doing this with my note-taking app Notes[1]. [1] https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes
In Trinity Desktop Environment – a modern KDE3 fork
rubymamis·Jun 9, 2023
I mostly disagree. Like you said, Qt is the best cross-platform native-like GUI toolkit available today. And that is a hard achievement. There are many tradeoffs (some you pointed out) but the open source community seems to find a way around those limitations. There are thousands of open source libraries you can plug-in into your Qt app to overcome many of its limitations (although some remain, like how can't we still not easily change caret/cursor color of QTextEdit??). Unlike you, I like the direction that Qt is taking. I think QML and Qt Quick are great. I just implemented a feature in my note-taking app that turns Markdown text into Kanban board using QML and the experience has been great (https://github.com/nuttyartist/notes/pull/574). I'm planning to continue transition from QWidgets to QML/Qt Quick. I do worry of the continuous fri
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ction with open source development and hate the online installers as well. I can recommend this useful tool https://github.com/miurahr/aqtinstall that allows you to easily download prebuilt Qt binaries. I hope they can revert their approach on that.
In Adventures in Debian's Qt Land

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