Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

They did. It was called org-babel. It is still superior to notebooks because you can weave the source code and mix a dozen languages.


Don't get me wrong, I love org, but this is really not nearly the same as Jupyter notebooks.

Jupyter notebooks are web based, and only require a web browser to use. That's not the case for org.

Using org effectively also means using Emacs, which is a high barrier of entry for most people.

Jupyter notebooks have no such requirements, and anyone can get rolling by just installing some packages and opening a web browser.

Jupyter notebooks are also really polished, while org is more bare bones visually.

Jupyter notebooks also have all these tools integrated in to it (all the graphing and inline image display tools are particularly appealing)

Yes, you could potentially do all of these with org, but it'd take way more knowledge and setup than is required for Jupyter notebooks.

If something as visually appealing, powerful, and easy to set up and use for people who don't know Emacs then it'd have a chance of getting widespread adoption. But that's not org.


It's better. Already serialized. Can be kept under version control. Can be shared between people without needing to signup for anything. And as already stated, code is automatically extractable.

Notebooks are only a thing because you don't need to install anything on work laptops and get around terrible IT policies.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2026 batch! Applications are open till July 27.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: