[inbox] MarkdownDB vision stuff (Rufus)

[rufuspollock]

2023-09-23

MarkdownDB wiki vision stuff

Subject 1: MarkdownDB vision

Subject 2: How to build a directory of stuff in markdown (as a MarkdownDB) with obisidian (and git)

Subject 3: Why build a directory using markdown vs e.g. google sheets?

Subject 2a: How to use markdown-based approach for our DDP or Erasmus directory

Question: how do i create and contribute to a markdown-based directory

• How to edit
• How to collaborate (drive sync + git backups as extra)
• How to publish?

Outflow

• MarkdownDB as a pattern vs as a tool
• Why better than X e.g. google sheets, airtable etc
  • And why is it worse?
  • => when to use markdowndb vs a full spreadsheet
• For Life Itself mapping projects do we have "one big" database or several smaller databases?
  • Depends on whether there is overlap ... and in what way
    • Is there overlap?
    • What overlap is there?

Terminology

• Markdown: a simple format for writing markup e.g. bold, italics, headings in a raw text file
• A raw text file: a file made of simple ascii or unicode characters.
• Document: a single markdown file e.g. my-file.md
• Frontmatter: a convention for storing structured metadata in a Document (at the start hence "front"). Usually uses a format called yaml (common alternatives are json or toml)
• Vault: Collection of files