I think you’re spot on: Markdown files with SyncThing. That’s my setup as well, you just can’t beat markdown files as a back-end for flexibility and future-safety in my opinion.
Some things to consider:
Editor: The obvious no-nos are editors with built-in AI support or cloud storage. FOSS editors are highly recommended. If you find a good offline FOSS WYSIWYG-style markdown editor, let us know. I use Neovim myself, but I’m often asked for recommendations by non-geeks.
Operating system: You should be fine on MacOS (for now), but Linux is a great option for desktop. Windows is a loose canon with their AI snapshot approach, definitely avoid. What are you syncing to? Mobile devices are a lot more difficult to keep control of.
Encrypted devices: Make sure you have full disk encryption on all devices and on all your backups.
I think you’re spot on: Markdown files with SyncThing. That’s my setup as well, you just can’t beat markdown files as a back-end for flexibility and future-safety in my opinion.
Some things to consider: