A SuperMemo of our own

Current issues with SuperMemo

• Aged user interface

• Aged user experience

• Closed-source (propietary) and paid

• Not so much active development. Many bugs remain unfixed.

• Lack of support for modern standards such as PDF, markdown, LaTeX.

• Horrible customer support

Current state of the Supermemo community

SMA Discord

Are there software developers skilled enough to built an app as an open source alternative to SuperMemo?

Current state of Piotr Wozniak's vision

We all know that user experience plays a significant role in the adoption of a product. While we, the existing users, might find satisfaction in mastering the steep learning curve of SuperMemo, wouldn't we want more individuals to discover and enjoy this tool?

Previous attemps for an Open-source SuperMemo

In the 1990s, the concept of open-source SuperMemo was introduced, following the initial achievements of other open-source initiatives. Zoran Maximovic and Piotr Maksimczyk created online versions of SuperMemo, while Luis Gustavo Neves developed SuperMemo for Linux using the SuperMemo 8 codebase.

Tomasz Kuehn initially proposed the idea of an open-source SuperMemo for Linux on October 24, 1997. However, around 2004, the availability of CrossOver software diminished the demand for a native Linux version, consequently affecting the progress of the open-source project. In 2006, Florian Zwicke and Filip Glowacki introduced their own variations, and in 2008, Darek Murakowski revitalized the idea.

Despite these efforts, successful open-source versions of SuperMemo have never emerged, and there has never been a native SuperMemo specifically designed for Linux.

Intrinsic characteristcs of Incremental Reading (IR)

Incremental Reading has a steep learning curve. SuperMemo, to date, is the only software that implements Incremental Reading (IR) sadifying the minimum definition of incremental reading as described by Piotr Wozniak.

What should a new SuperMemo-like app have?

• Open Source
  • Licence that any fork should keep the licence of being kept open-source.
• Local first
  • Forget about SaaS (software as a service) only.
  • The user owns his or her own data.
• Use of open standards
  • The information is accessible outside of the app, it can be exported to third parties, research can be done, etc.
• Multi-device support
  • Support for both mobile and desktop versions.
  • All major operative systems are supported: Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.
• Use of plugins (add-ons)
  • Users can customized their experience.

Questions

Why do you think SuperMemo for windows remains clozed source?

What do you think it will happen if SuperMemo is open-sourced?

References

https://supermemopedia.com/wiki/Open_source_SuperMemo

https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Open_source_SuperMemo

https://supermemo.guru/wiki/33rd_anniversary_of_SuperMemo#Open_source_SuperMemo

https://supermemopedia.com/wiki/An_Appeal_to_Open_Source_SuperMemo