Docs – Open source alternative to Notion or Outline

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Project Scope & Positioning

  • Docs is a collaborative, Notion/Google‑Docs‑style editor, part of a broader French–German public “La Suite Numérique” (chat, video, spreadsheets via Grist, etc.).
  • Focus today: real‑time collaboration, comments/suggestions, modern WYSIWYG editing; structured “database” features like Notion’s are explicitly deferred.
  • Built on BlockNote (ProseMirror‑based), Yjs CRDTs, HocusPocus, Django and Next.js; math/LaTeX support is requested and technically possible via ProseMirror extensions.

Government‑Funded Open Source & Digital Sovereignty

  • Many see this as a strong example of “public money, public code”: governments fund tools they need, avoid foreign SaaS lock‑in, then release them under permissive licenses.
  • Arguments in favor:
    • Security and sovereignty: dependence on closed US services is seen as a strategic risk for states and critical sectors (health, public administration, military).
    • Cost and bargaining power: license spend for office/collab suites is huge; having a viable FOSS alternative reduces recurring payments and strengthens negotiation leverage.
    • Resilience: VC‑funded SaaS can be enshittified, acquired, or killed; open source can be community‑maintained if governments step back.
  • Some point to existing gov OSS ecosystems (France, UK, Netherlands, Germany, US gov projects like Ghidra) as proof this model already works.

Economic & Innovation Debates

  • Critics argue:
    • Governments “competing with industry” is economically inefficient and may crowd out private innovation, especially in Europe’s already‑weak startup scene.
    • State‑funded “clones” (Notion‑like, Office‑like) won’t push state of the art; subsidies should target frontier research (CERN‑style) instead.
  • Defenders counter:
    • This is commodity infrastructure, not frontier R&D; “good enough, stable, interoperable” is the goal.
    • Open code doesn’t block innovation: companies can build hosting, plugins, and vertical solutions on top.
    • Government in‑house tools are analogous to public roads, water, libraries, or public healthcare.

Features, Alternatives & Gaps

  • Users stress that to be a true Notion alternative, Docs (or the wider suite) must cover:
    • Relational “database” views (table/kanban/calendar/timeline), scripting over properties, and rich export.
  • Some see Notion’s data model and ecosystem (templates, integrations) as non‑trivial to replicate; others call it “just CRUD” and highly reproducible.
  • Alternatives discussed: Outline (BSL, some features proprietary), Docmost, AppFlowy, AFFiNE, TriliumNext, Obsidian, CryptPad, Anytype, Typemill, HedgeDoc, etc.

Self‑Hosting, Licensing & Operations

  • Docs is MIT‑licensed; confusion about AGPL came only from the default MinIO choice, later clarified.
  • Current self‑hosting involves many services (Postgres, Redis, S3‑compatible storage, Keycloak, multiple app containers).
    • Supporters say this stack is standard and appropriate for large orgs; “one docker‑compose” is acceptable.
    • Detractors see it as far too complex for individuals and small teams, and want single‑binary or DMG‑style installs and clear backup/export stories.
  • Maintainers say:
    • Primary target is large organizations/public agencies; small‑org hosting could be provided by third‑party providers.
    • Work is underway on one‑click deployment and an all‑in‑one container.

Accessibility, Language Support & Roadmap

  • Accessibility is a stated design goal: use of React Aria, dedicated accessibility expertise, audits, and user testing; some suite projects already claim high conformance.
  • Internationalization: already supports French, English, German; translation via Crowdin, more languages being added.
  • Planned features mentioned in the thread:
    • Document trees/sub‑docs with inherited permissions.
    • Better full‑text search.
    • Potential end‑to‑end encryption (with acknowledged trade‑offs).
    • Tighter integration with other suite tools (e.g., Grist for data, video, chat).

Side Topics

  • Substantial meta‑discussion about:
    • EU vs US tech trajectories, “enshittification” of VC‑funded platforms, and whether Europe should prioritize sovereign infra over chasing unicorns.
    • Trademark worries around the name “Docs” vs Google Docs (some see confusion risk; others consider the term generic).
    • Broader political digressions on France, Macron, US politics, and European demographics, mostly tangential to the software itself.