Long-time (and current) bear+panda user, product designer, and adhd’er.
What do i need to do to get a beta invite?
Similar to many here, agentic work has significantly changed what i need from my tools. As such - i’ve had to start using obsidian where I previously used bear. I’ve been using the MCP but .md file system access is a pretty direct requirement for anything I do.
As much as i appreciate obsidians infinite customizability its horrible for my adhd, i just need something that works out of the box. Lettera appears to tick those boxes even in its beta state.
PKM is little more than a marketing buzzword in a highly competitive software market segment. What exactly is Bear? A note-taking app, a writing app, a journal app or perhaps more of a PKM app? Ultimately it’s all of those things, simply because it is so minimalist that it allows for all kinds of uses without imposing any specific one.
PKM is an ideology designed to appeal to people who are looking for a “second brain” so they can turn off their first one. The big promise is that knowledge will magically emerge without the first brain having to do any work. In that context I always like to recall Antonio Gramsci, who put his writings down on paper while in prison under the most adverse circumstances.
However, if PKM is understood simply as a tool that the “first brain” uses for collecting and managing information or knowledge, then Lettera is also a suitable instrument for this purpose. To repeat myself: But only as long as it does not become specialized and impose a specific way of using it on anyone. By the way, there are reportedly people who still organize their knowledge entirely without digital tools, just using only paper and pen.
So what? I can’t think of a more general term than that. It’s not about what Lettera is, but rather what each of us wants to use it for. Whether I use it to collect recipes in Markdown or write blog posts isn’t determined by the tool itself and certainly not by how you want use it.
Whether a tool can serve as a PKM or whatever else isn’t something that is settled by definition, but by looking at what it actually allows you to do and whether its features fit your needs.
I am not sure what you want to say with that. Shouldn’t Lettera implement a global search because it isn’t a PKM app? Does a search functionality transforms a markdown editor inevitably into something it doesn’t want to be? I prefer to look at it functionally. I need a search function because I want to search my files. Therefore I would ask the developers to implement it.
Didn’t intend for this to become a discussion about the semantics of a pkm. But i guess thats where the conversation is now.
@kirkmc So Lettera is not supposed to be a PKM, its not supposed to replace bear, its not supposed to replace obsidian. then what is the point? What is the primary use case for a "native, refined Markdown editor for macOS" that isnt a PKM, a bear-style note taking app, or a direct competitor to obsidian?
I like using bear simply because the markdown writing experience is better, I don’t like using obsidian, the writing experience feels less polished and i end up tweaking things constantly - But i need file system access. Do I have permission to use Lettera for that or do i need to find some other highly specific (not-pkm, not bear) use-case to help justify why I asked to join the Lettera beta?
Saying Lettera by definition cannot be a PKM because it isn’t searchable is a bit silly - and it discredits the 100’s of different ways that people query a local file system workspace without a search bar entirely.
I was unaware I was speaking to the designated person-who-writes gatekeeper of wysiwyg markdown text editors.
You are describing all of the reasons I’ve already explained that I’m looking to use Lettera, except you cant seem to recognize that all of those reasons also apply to people who use it differently than you do.
I don’t know what your beef is and why you are so clearly attempting to alienate others for wanting to use a personal tool for their own personal work. Im not our here begging the devs to turn the tool into some PKM zombie do-it-all app. I asked for access because the features directly address MY personal needs as they are. If it baffles you that a tool like this can have multiple uses then I don’t really know what else you want me to say?
The problem with you is that you’re taking a stance that has nothing to do with the status of an ordinary user. You don’t say what you plan to do with the app, what you feel is missing or what you’d like to see. Instead you take a position that’s only seemingly objective (based on an abstract definition of the app) and believe you have the right to determine what the app is and isn’t allowed to offer. The role as gatekeeper you’re trying to play in a domineering and arrogant manner, that rubs some users the wrong way. I have to wonder whether you’re actually concerned with using the app at all or not. Or whether you’re just trying to come across as an expert, which you clearly cannot be, simply because you couldn’t even correctly describe the basic functions of your supposed main tool iA Writer when you joined the discussion shortly after Lettera was released. You have such a narrow-minded view of software categories that you’re no longer familiar with how ordinary people use ordinary software.
