Qownnotes

Christian Külker

0.1.1

2024-06-20

Introduction

QOwnNotes is a note-taking application designed with a focus on user independence and efficiency. It stands out by saving notes as plain-text markdown files on the user’s own computer, thereby avoiding the potential issues of vendor lock-in seen in some other platforms. The application is designed for quick performance and is conscious of system resource usage, striving to keep its processor and memory usage low. QOwnNotes offers customization and scripting options, allowing users to adjust it to their workflow preferences. It includes additional functionalities such as real-time markdown preview, integrated spellchecking, support for tabbed editing, and a Vim mode, which enhance its practicality.

Building on Debian 12

Dependencies

aptitude install qtchooser libqt5websockets5 libqt5websockets5-dev \
libqt5x11extras5 libqt5x11extras5-dev
# OR (not tested)
# aptitude install qmake libqt6websockets6 libqt6websockets6-dev \
# libqt6x11extras6 libqt6x11extras6-dev qml6-module-qt5compat-graphicaleffects

Source

git clone https://github.com/pbek/QOwnNotes.git -b release
cd QOwnNotes
git submodule update --init
cd src

Build

# Build binary translation files if you want another language than English
# (not tested)
# lrelease QOwnNotes.pro

# Prepare build process
qmake
Project MESSAGE: Currently in RELEASE mode.

# Build the application
make
[...]

Install

This will install not into /usr/local but directly into /usr if no PREFIX variable is set via qmake and it might mess with packages! Directories affected are: /usr/{bin,share}. It is also possible to run the application directly from the src directory without installing it. (./QOwnNotes)

cd src
make install

Ansible Source Build Install

This Ansible cookbook will

  • Install dependencies
  • Create some directory structure
  • Clone the repository
  • Initialize the sub-modules inside the repository
  • Configure QOwnNotes to be installed in /srv/qowennotes
  • Build
  • Install
  • Make it accessible under zsh

It uses the function path_add_after to add the application to the current path, this function should be available in your ZSH configuration zshrc globally. Here it is for adding a new path before and after.

path_add_before(){
    if [ -d "$1" ] && [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$1:"* ]]; then
        path=($1 $path)
    fi
}
path_add_after(){
    if [ -d "$1" ] && [[ ":$PATH:" != *":$1:"* ]]; then
        path+=($1)
    fi
}

Then the application PATH is set for all users, made available for Ansible inside the variable users like this:

users:
- name: $USER
  group: $GROUP
  home: /home/$USER

Replace $USER and $GROUP with real values and add more entries like this to the list in case you have more than one user.

- name: Install and setup QOwnNotes
  hosts: all
  become: yes  # This is required for installing packages and writing to /srv
  gather_facts: yes # Because of {{ansible_processor_vcpus}}
  vars:
    ns: qownnotes
    cores: "{{ansible_processor_vcpus}}"
    bin: QOwnNotes
    dst: "/srv/{{ns}}"
    src: "{{github.dir}}/pbek/{{bin}}/src"
    my_user: "{{user.user}}"
    my_group: "{{user.group}}"
    packages:
      - qtchooser
      - libqt5websockets5
      - libqt5websockets5-dev
      - libqt5x11extras5-dev
      - libqt5x11extras5
  tasks:
    - name: "{{ns}}: Install and update packages"
      package:
        name: "{{ packages }}"
        state: latest
    - name: "{{ns}}: Create directory for {{bin}} source"
      file:
        path: "{{github.dir}}/pbek"
        recurse: true
        owner: "{{my_user}}"
        group: "{{my_group}}"
        state: directory
        mode: '0755'
    - name: "{{ns}}: Clone '{{bin}}' repository to '{{github.dir}}/pbek/{{bin}}'"
      git:
        repo: 'https://github.com/pbek/{{bin}}.git'
        dest: '{{github.dir}}/pbek/{{bin}}'
        version: release
        force: yes # In case build was not successful
        clone: yes
        update: yes
      become: yes
      become_user: "{{my_user}}"
      when: not (github.dir + '/pbek/' + bin + '/.git') is directory
    - name: "{{ns}}: Initialize git submodules '{{github.dir}}/pbek/{{bin}}'"
      shell: git submodule update --init
      args:
        chdir: "{{github.dir}}/pbek/{{bin}}"
      become: yes
      become_user: "{{my_user}}"
      when: not (github.dir + '/pbek/' + bin + '/.git/modules') is directory
    - name: "{{ns}}: Configure {{bin}} prefix '{{dst}}'"
      shell: "qmake PREFIX={{dst}}"
      args:
        chdir: "{{src}}"
      become: yes
      become_user: "{{my_user}}"
      when: not (dst + '/bin/' + bin) is file
    - name: "{{ns}}: Build {{bin}} with {{core}} cores at '{{src}}'"
      shell: "make -j {{cores}}"
      args:
        chdir: "{{src}}"
      become: yes
      become_user: "{{my_user}}"
      when: not (dst + '/bin/' + bin) is file
    - name: "{{ns}} Install {{bin}} to '{{dst}}'"
      shell: make install
      args:
        chdir: "{{src}}"
      become: yes
      become_user: "{{my_user}}"
      when: not (dst + '/bin/' + bin) is file
    - name: "{{ns}}: Add dir '{{dst}}/bin' to PATH for each user"
      copy:
        content: "path_add_after {{dst}}/bin"
        dest: "{{item.home}}/.zsh/829_{{ns}}.zsh"
        owner: "{{item.name}}"
        group: "{{item.group}}"
        mode: 0644
      loop: "{{users}}"
      become: yes

Debug

The application provides a debug tab inside the application settings. Here some, but not all information.

General Information

**Current Date**: `Thu Feb 8 21:18:02 2024`
**Version**: `24.2.0`
**Build date**: `Feb  8 2024`
**Build number**: `1077`
**Platform**: `linux`
**Operating System**: `Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)`
**Build architecture**: `x86_64`
**Current architecture**: `x86_64`
**Release**: `Self-build`
**Qt Version (build)**: `5.15.8`
**Qt Version (runtime)**: `5.15.8`
**Portable mode**: `no`
**Settings path / key**: `$HOME/.config/PBE/QOwnNotes.conf`
**Application database path**: `$HOME/.local/share/PBE/QOwnNotes/QOwnNotes.sqlite`
**Application arguments**: `./QOwnNotes`
**Qt Debug**: `0`
**Locale (system)**: `en_US`
**Locale (interface)**: *empty*
**Primary screen resolution**: `1920x1200`
**Screen resolution(s)**: `1920x1200, 1200x1920, 1920x1200`
**Icon theme**: `mate`
**Notes in current note folder**: `2`
**Calendar items**: `0`
**Enabled scripts**: `0`

Spellchecking

**Enabled**: `true`
**Selected language**: `auto`
**Language codes**: `en_US`
**Language names**: `American English (United States)`
**Application dictionaries path**: `/$HOME/.local/share/PBE/QOwnNotes/dicts`

Note folders

The note folder will be chosen at application startup.

**currentNoteFolderId**: `1`

Note folder default

**id**: `1`
**isCurrent**: `yes`
**activeTagId**: `0`
**localPath**: `$HOME/Notes` # user choose this value
**remotePath**: `Notes`
**cloudConnectionId**: `1`
**isShowSubfolders**: `yes`
**isUseGit**: `no`
**allowDifferentNoteFileName**: `no`
**activeNoteSubFolder name**: *empty*
**database file**: `$HOME/Notes/notes.sqlite`

Videos

Critique

QOwnNotes is a versatile note-taking application designed for those who prefer working with Markdown files. It offers a blend of simplicity and functionality, catering to users who need a straightforward yet capable note-taking tool.

Pros

  • Uses plain Markdown files
  • The markdown preview is interactive: Checking a TODO point also marks it as ‘done’ in the source for example
  • Easy compilation
  • Git support (not tested)
  • FOSS
  • Encryption (not tested)
  • Tags
  • Web application support (not tested)
  • Can use a generic CalDAV server (not tested)

Cons

  • Install to /usr instead of /usr/local without PREFIX
  • Uses many SQL lite databases (for meta data)
  • Configuration data at several locations ($HOME/.local, $HOME/.config, $HOME/Notes)
  • Some features (like versioning) only works with cloud service
  • Binary is spelled mixed case including upper case

History

Version Date Notes
0.1.1 2024-06-20 Add debug section and Ansible playbook
0.1.0 2023-09-14 Initial release
  • Qownnotes