one major issue with zotero is the lack of android support. they are working on an android version or app or something since forever.
then is the way you store the pfds. if you want to sync between multiple computers you have to either know how to work with webdav or know how to point zotero at the location where you have your pdfs or (what they most certainly love) pay a lot of money for not so much storage space on their system. that last thing is what i don't like because i just don't trust anyone these days. you get invested in a system, build your routine around it only for them to shut it down, sell it watever and then puff you have to start over.
people keep calling zotero foss but if they were truly foss they would have a much more transparent way for people to roll their own selfhosted zotero server. instead, what they have is a dump of an old version, with next to zero documentation and a bunch of stubborn people that have managed to get something working but not quite.
I get that they are trying to make money but I am sure they could do that and be more transparent.
The other thing is the reliance on so many plugins. While zotero itself may last a while, who can say anything about the many devs of the many plugins that you end up relying on in order to make zotero bow to your routine? I like zotfile and a few others, but how long are they going to last? Also, reinstalling my system is a huge pain to get back to my routine because I have to remember all the settings for each and every plugin I install. They should come up with a way to save all these settings and restore them, and no don't do it through another plugin!
Here's a guide I found useful to set up zotero storage. In brief, it relies on zotfile to flatten the storage (keep all pdfs in one directory) and better bibtex.
I realized that it helped me to get rid of exactly the pain with fresh installs that you mention. I realized that the two plugins give me most of the functionality that I want.
then is the way you store the pfds. if you want to sync between multiple computers you have to either know how to work with webdav or know how to point zotero at the location where you have your pdfs or (what they most certainly love) pay a lot of money for not so much storage space on their system. that last thing is what i don't like because i just don't trust anyone these days. you get invested in a system, build your routine around it only for them to shut it down, sell it watever and then puff you have to start over.
people keep calling zotero foss but if they were truly foss they would have a much more transparent way for people to roll their own selfhosted zotero server. instead, what they have is a dump of an old version, with next to zero documentation and a bunch of stubborn people that have managed to get something working but not quite.
I get that they are trying to make money but I am sure they could do that and be more transparent.
The other thing is the reliance on so many plugins. While zotero itself may last a while, who can say anything about the many devs of the many plugins that you end up relying on in order to make zotero bow to your routine? I like zotfile and a few others, but how long are they going to last? Also, reinstalling my system is a huge pain to get back to my routine because I have to remember all the settings for each and every plugin I install. They should come up with a way to save all these settings and restore them, and no don't do it through another plugin!