Would love to try but won't run on Debian Bookworm as it needs glibc 2.8 (or 2.9?)
./SilverBullet_0.3.6-edge1_amd64.AppImage
silverbullet-app: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.39' not found (required by silverbullet-app)
silverbullet-app: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by /tmp/.mount_SilverAgKJIk/usr/lib/libdbus-1.so.3)
silverbullet-app: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by /tmp/.mount_SilverAgKJIk/usr/lib/libgdk-3.so.0)
silverbullet-app: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by /tmp/.mount_SilverAgKJIk/usr/lib/libgdk-3.so.0)
... etc
After testing the app a bit, I have to say it makes a good overall impression on me. I have two points that are arguably minor, but they are somewhat annoying:
When closing the app window, the dashboard opens as a new window. That is not what I would expect. Closing a window should not cause another window to pop up that I then also have to close. This behavior feels unintuitive. (If I want to get to the dashboard, I could either open the app or selecting the dashboard option from the menu bar.)
I would like the option to hide the menu bar. I appreciate having access to the items you’ve placed there, but I don’t think the menu bar needs to be visible all the time. In other apps, it often only appears when pressing Alt, for example. A similar option here would improve the experience for me.
These are relatively small points, but addressing them would make the app feel more polished.
Is there a zoom in/out feature?
It’s usually available in the menu bar under “View.”
A default zoom feature like in Telegram, Discord, or Firefox would also be awesome.
Devs are in control of updates with Flathub too. AppImages are a pretty bad format for anything I intend to use on a daily basis. It's better for one-off apps, kinda like portable EXE files on Windows. They don't integrate well with the desktop and don't work consistently on every distro. Then there's sandboxing. As a Flatpak, I can limit SilverBullet's filesystem access to wherever my Space is and SilverBullet, by default, only needs to have the permissions it actually needs.
I installed it on two Manjaro systems and everything went perfectly. I think the combination with having the online version is fantastic. It's handling all the synchronization very well, and it's great to be able to work locally with the .md files directly and have everything uploaded automatically.
One of the few problems I've had is that the keyboard shortcut for quick notes (Control-Q) closes the program in Gnome.
Another issue is with silverbullet-cli (which is wonderful), but it doesn't work if the window isn't open. I tried running some scripts remotely via SSH, but I couldn't because I can't run the AppImage from the text console.
I’ve always preferred native apps for the tools I use every day. They feel more stable, more responsive. Nothing shifts around while I’m typing, nothing breaks my flow. That experience is very different from using something in a browser.
Because of that, I ended up using WhatsApp or Telegram as a quick log, and Google Keep for more structured notes. It’s not ideal, but it works. Opening a browser, typing URLs, dealing with pages that move or reflow while I’m writing. Those small frictions add up. On mobile especially, when read-only is disabled by accident, I sometimes tap the wrong thing or lose my place.
Before important meetings, I even copy notes from SB into Google Keep just to avoid sync delays or loading issues. I don’t want to keep people waiting because my notes haven’t loaded yet. And yes, that has happened.
What I’ve really wanted all along is a proper native mobile app. I’ve already committed a lot of my life into SB. When I first started using it, it was still small, and I didn’t expect much. Open source projects often come and go. But SB was different. Real Markdown, no forced structure, plain text, no lock-in. That was enough to convince me.
Now it’s grown far beyond what I expected.
Pricing can be tough from where I am. Lower income, weaker currency. But I’m still willing to pay. I’ve done it before with apps like DAVx⁵ and Tasks.org, and I don’t regret it. I’d gladly support SB the same way, especially if it means getting a native app. That kind of support is what keeps projects like this alive.
I'm running the edge version on Ubuntu 22.04 and it synced successfully with my self-hosted SB instance. It even syncs updates. However, the space doesn't show any content, and the error in the developer tools is like this:
[Error] Viewport argument key "interactive-widget" not recognized and ignored. (localhost, line 8)
[Error] [Client] – TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'e.double.left')
TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'e.double.left')
(anonymous function) (user-script:18:11)
(anonymous function) (client.js:22:19066)
(anonymous function) (client.js:22:18262)
[Error] TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'e.setState')
__e (client.js:337:53396)
(anonymous function) (client.js:337:215638)
jB (client.js:337:55392)
[Error] [Client] – "Error during :" – TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'this.client.editorView.dispatch')
TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'this.client.editorView.dispatch')
(anonymous function) (user-script:18:11)
(anonymous function) (client.js:22:19066)
reportError (client.js:341:17208)
(anonymous function) (client.js:343:3983)
[Error] Unhandled Promise Rejection: TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'this.client.editorView.dispatch')
commandsUpdated (client.js:257:42783)
emit (client.js:77:1187)
emit (client.js:77:1196)
buildAllCommandsAndEmit (client.js:87:5734)
(anonymous function) (client.js:87:5000)
(anonymous function) (client.js:22:17938)
[Error] TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'e.editorView.dispatch')
(anonymous function) (client.js:337:237423)
[Error] TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'e.editorView.hasFocus')
(anonymous function) (client.js:337:236842)
In the terminal, where I started the app, I see errors like this:
(silverbullet-app:222194): Gtk-WARNING **: 09:09:34.360: ../../../../gtk/gtkwidget.c:6780: no accelerator (78,4) installed in accel group (0x55b80420b4e0) for GtkMenuItem (0x55b80420e550)
