开源笔记软件 Joplin 背后的故事
Joplin 笔记
![](/data/attachment/album/202210/21/112935tfapsvpac06h2sth.jpg)



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> Laurent Cozic 与我坐下来，讨论了 Joplin 是如何开始的，以及这个开源笔记软件的下一步计划。
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在这次采访中，我见到了笔记软件 Joplin 的创建者 Laurent Cozic。[Joplin](https://joplinapp.org/) 是 [20i](https://www.20i.com/foss-awards/winners) 奖励的赢家，所以我想了解是什么让它如此成功，以及他如何实现的。


### 你能概述一下什么是 Joplin 吗？


[Joplin](https://opensource.com/article/19/1/productivity-tool-joplin) 是一个开源的笔记软件。它可以让你捕获你的想法并从任何设备安全地访问它们。


### 显然，还有很多其他的笔记应用，那么除了免费使用之外，它还有什么不同呢？


对我们的许多用户来说，它是开源的这一事实是一个非常重要的方面，因为这意味着没有供应商对数据的封锁，而且数据可以很容易地被导出并以各种方式访问。


我们还关注用户的安全和数据隐私，特别是端到端加密同步功能，以及通过对应用的任何连接保持透明。我们还与安全研究人员合作，以保证软件更加安全。


最后，Joplin 可以通过几种不同的方式进行定制 —— 通过插件（可以添加新的功能）和主题来定制应用程序的外观。我们还公开了一个数据 API，它允许第三方应用程序访问 Joplin 的数据。



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> **[相关阅读：5 款 Linux 上的笔记应用](https://opensource.com/article/22/8/note-taking-apps-linux)**
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### 这是一个竞争非常激烈的市场，那么是什么激发了你创建它的想法？


这是有原因的的。我从 2016 年开始研究它，因为我不喜欢现有的商业记事应用程序：笔记、附件或标签不能轻易被其他工具导出或操作。


这主要是由于供应商的封锁，另外还有供应商缺乏动力，因为他们没有动力帮助用户将他们的数据转移到其他应用程序。还有一个问题是，这些公司通常会以纯文本形式保存笔记，而这有可能造成数据隐私和安全方面的问题。


因此，我决定开始创建一个简单且具有同步功能的移动和终端应用程序，使我的笔记能够轻松地在我的设备上访问。之后又创建了桌面应用程序，项目从此开始发展。


![Chrome OS 上 Joplin 的图片](/data/attachment/album/202210/21/112939y1qg541oz6gooo3e.png)


### 编写 Joplin 花了多长时间呢？


自 2016 年以来，我一直在断断续续地开发，但并不是专门去维护。不过在过去的两年里，我更加专注于它。


### 对于准备创建自己的开源应用的人，你有什么建议？


挑选一个你自己使用的项目和你喜欢的技术来工作。


管理一个开源项目有时是很困难的，所以必须要有足够的兴趣去让它变得更有价值。那么我想 “早发布，多发布” 原则在这里也适用，这样你就可以衡量用户的兴趣，以及是否有必要花时间进一步开发这个项目。


### 有多少人参与了 Joplin 的开发？


有 3、4 人参与开发。目前，我们还有 6 名学生在 <ruby> 谷歌编程之夏 <rt>  Google Summer of Code </rt></ruby> 中为这个项目工作。


### 许多人都在创建开源项目，但 Joplin 对你来说是一个巨大的成功。关于如何获得关注，你能否给开发者提供一些建议？


没有简单的公式，说实话，我不认为我可以在另一个项目中复制这种成功！你必须对你所做的事情充满热情，但同时也要严谨、有组织、稳步前进，确保代码质量保持高水平，并拥有大量的测试单元以防止回归。


同时，对于你收到的用户反馈保持开放的态度，并在此基础上改进项目。


一旦你掌握了这些，剩下的可能就全靠运气了 —— 如果你做的项目让很多人都感兴趣，事情可能会顺利进行!


### 一旦你得到关注，但如果你没有传统的营销预算，你如何保持这种势头？


我认为这在于倾听项目周围的社区。举个例子来说，我从未计划过建立一个论坛，但有人在 GitHub 上提出了这个建议，所以我创建了一个论坛，它成为了一个分享想法、讨论功能、提供支持等很好的方式。社区也普遍欢迎新人，这形成了一种良性循环。


除此以外，定期就项目进行沟通也很重要。


我们没有一个公开的路线图，因为大多数功能的 ETA 通常是 “我不知道”，但我会试图就即将到来的功能、新版本等进行沟通。我们也会就重要的事件进行沟通，特别是谷歌编程之夏，或者当我们有机会赢得像 20i FOSS 奖的时候。


最后，我们很快将在伦敦举行一次面对面的聚会，这是与社区和合作者保持联系的另一种方式。


### 用户的反馈是如何影响路线图的？


很明显，贡献者们经常仅仅因为他们需要某个特性而从事某些工作。但除此之外，我们还根据论坛和 GitHub 问题追踪器上的信息，追踪对用户来说似乎最重要的功能。


例如，移动应用程序现在具有很高的优先级，因为我们经常从用户那里听到，它的限制和缺陷是有效使用 Joplin 的一个问题。


![桌面使用Joplin的图片](/data/attachment/album/202210/21/112939vf0bi1vwfivlywtt.png)


### 你是如何跟上最新的开发和编码的发展的？


主要是通过阅读 Hacker News！


### 你有个人最喜欢的自由/开源软件可以推荐吗？


在不太知名的项目中，[SpeedCrunch](https://heldercorreia.bitbucket.io/speedcrunch/) 作为一个计算器非常好。它有很多功能，而且很好的是它能保留以前所有计算的历史。


我还使用 [KeepassXC](https://opensource.com/article/18/12/keepassx-security-best-practices) 作为密码管理器。在过去的几年里，它一直在稳步改进。


最后，[Visual Studio Code](https://opensource.com/article/20/6/open-source-alternatives-vs-code) 作为一个跨平台的文本编辑器非常棒。


### 我原以为 Joplin 是以 Janis 的名字命名的，但维基百科告诉我来自是 Scoot Joplin。你为什么选择这个名字？


我起初想把它命名为 “jot-it”，但我想这个名字已经被人占了。


由于我那时经常听 Scoot Joplin 的 <ruby> 拉格泰姆 <rt>  ragtime </rt></ruby>音乐（我相当痴迷于此），我决定使用他的名字。


我认为产品名称的含义并不太重要，只要名称本身易于书写、发音、记忆，并与一些积极的东西（或至少没有消极的东西）有关。


我觉得 “Joplin” 符合所有条件。


### 关于 Joplin 的计划，你还有什么可以说的吗？也许是对一个新功能的独家预告？


如前所述，我们非常希望在用户体验设计和新功能方面对移动应用进行改进。


我们也在考虑创建一个 “插件商店”，以便更容易地浏览和安装插件。


感谢 Laurent — 祝 Joplin 的未来好运。


*图片来自: ([Opensource.com](http://Opensource.com), CC BY-SA 4.0)*


*[这篇访谈最初发表在 20i 博客上，已获得许可进行转载。](https://www.20i.com/blog/joplin-creator-laurent-cozic/)*




---


via: <https://opensource.com/article/22/9/joplin-interview>


作者：[Richard Chambers](https://opensource.com/users/20i) 选题：[lkxed](https://github.com/lkxed) 译者：[MareDevi](https://github.com/MareDevi) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
In this interview, I met up with Laurent Cozic, creator of the note-taking app, Joplin. [Joplin](https://joplinapp.org/) was a winner of the [20i](https://www.20i.com/foss-awards/winners) rewards, so I wanted to find out what makes it such a success, and how he achieved it.

**Could you summarize what Joplin does?**

[Joplin](https://opensource.com/article/19/1/productivity-tool-joplin) is an open source note-taking app. It allows you to capture your thoughts and securely access them from any device.

**Obviously, there are other note-taking apps out there—but apart from it being free to use, what makes it different?**

The fact that it is open source is an important aspect for many of our users, because it means there is no vendor locking on the data, and that data can be easily exported and accessed in various ways.

We also focus on security and data privacy, in particular with the synchronization end-to-end encryption feature, and by being transparent about any connection that the application makes. We also work with security researchers to keep the app more secure.

Finally, Joplin can be customized in several different ways—through plugins, which can add new functionalities, and themes to customize the app appearance. We also expose a data API, which allows third-party applications to access Joplin data.

**[ Related read 5 note-taking apps for Linux ]**

**It's a competitive market, so what inspired you to build it?**

It happened organically. I started looking into it in 2016, as I was looking at existing commercial note-taking applications, and I didn't like that the notes, attachments, or tags could not easily be exported or manipulated by other tools.

This is probably due to vendor locking and partly a lack of motivation from the vendor since they have no incentive to help users move their data to other apps. There is also an issue with the fact that these companies usually will keep the notes in plain text, and that can potentially cause issues in terms of data privacy and security.

So I decided to start creating a simple mobile and terminal application with sync capabilities to have my notes easily accessible on my devices. Later the desktop app was created and the project grew from there.

![Image of Joplin on Chrome OS.](https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/2022-09/joplin-chrome-os.png)

(Opensource.com, CC BY-SA 4.0)

**How long did Joplin take to make?**

I've been working on it on and off since 2016 but it wasn't full time. The past two years I've been focusing more on it.

**What advice might you have for someone setting to create their own open source app?**

Pick a project you use yourself and technologies you enjoy working with.

Managing an open source project can be difficult sometimes so there has to be this element of fun to make it worthwhile. Then I guess "release early, release often" applies here, so that you can gauge user's interest and whether it makes sense to spend time developing the project further.

**How many people are involved in Joplin's development?**

There are 3-4 people involved in the development. At the moment we also have six students working on the project as part of Google Summer of Code.

**[ Also read Our journey to open source during Google Summer of Code ]**

**Lots of people create open source projects, yet Joplin has been a resounding success for you. Could you offer creators any tips on how to get noticed?**

There's no simple formula and to be honest I don't think I could replicate the success in a different project! You've got to be passionate about what you're doing but also be rigorous, be organized, make steady progress, ensure the code quality remains high, and have a lot of test units to prevent regressions.

Also be open to the user feedback you receive, and try to improve the project based on it.

Once you've got all that, the rest is probably down to luck—if it turns out you're working on a project that interests a lot of people, things might work out well!

**Once you get noticed, how do you keep that momentum going, if you don't have a traditional marketing budget?**

I think it's about listening to the community around the project. For example I never planned to have a forum but someone suggested it on GitHub, so I made one and it became a great way to share ideas, discuss features, provide support, and so on. The community is generally welcoming of newcomers too, which creates a kind of virtuous circle.

Next to this, it's important to communicate regularly about the project.

We don't have a public roadmap, because the ETA for most features is generally "I don't know", but I try to communicate about coming features, new releases, and so on. We also communicate about important events, the Google Summer of Code in particular, or when we have the chance to win something like the 20i FOSS Awards.

Finally, very soon we'll have an in-person meetup in London, which is another way to keep in touch with the community and collaborators.

**How does user feedback influence the roadmap?**

Significantly. Contributors will often work on something simply because they need the feature. But next to this, we also keep track of the features that seem most important to users, based on what we read about on the forum and on the GitHub issue tracker.

For example, the mobile app is now high priority because we frequently hear from users that its limitations and issues are a problem to effectively use Joplin.

![Image of Joplin being used on a Desktop.](https://opensource.com/sites/default/files/2022-09/joplin-desktop.png)

(Opensource.com, CC BY-SA 4.0)

**How do you keep up to date with the latest in dev and coding?**

Mostly by reading Hacker News!

**Do you have a personal favorite FOSS that you'd recommend?**

Among the less well-known projects, [SpeedCrunch](https://heldercorreia.bitbucket.io/speedcrunch/) is very good as a calculator. It has a lot of features and it's great how it keeps a history of all previous calculations.

I also use [KeepassXC](https://opensource.com/article/18/12/keepassx-security-best-practices) as a password manager. It has been improving steadily over the past few years.

Finally, [Visual Studio Code](https://opensource.com/article/20/6/open-source-alternatives-vs-code) is great as a cross-platform text editor.


**I'd assumed that Joplin was named after Janis, but Wikipedia tells me it's Scott Joplin. What made you choose the name?**

I wanted to name it "jot-it" at first but I think the name was already taken.

Since I was listening to Scott Joplin ragtime music a lot back then (I was pretty much obsessed with it), I decided to use his name.

I think the meaning of a product name is not too important, as long as the name itself is easy to write, pronounce, remember, and perhaps is associated with something positive (or at least nothing negative).

And I think "Joplin" ticks all these boxes.

**Is there anything you can say about plans for Joplin? An exclusive tease of a new feature, perhaps?**

As mentioned earlier, we are very keen to make improvements to the mobile app, both in terms of UX design and new features.

We're also looking at creating a "Plugin Store" to make it easier to browse and install plugins.

**Thanks for your time Laurent— best of luck with the future of Joplin.**

*This interview was originally published on the 20i blog and has been republished with permission.*

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