Note taking

ruenoak · 2025-02-18 22:18:40

Hi all, just wondering what does the community do to create, sort and store their notes?
I have used various note taking applications in the past but have always returned to text files in folder.
Speaking of applications I do like Zimwiki and used it for quite a while and still have it installed.

My basic structure for note taking is Mousepad as my editor, though any text editor will do, a folder called Notes and the naming convention is ‘date-description’.
I save everything as markdown though, I have been saving in gemtext too.

I like text it’s very zen and I find Mousepad and a Notes folder is all I really need.

EDX-0 · 2025-02-19 14:00:24

i'm currently using vimwiki inside neovim, used to use joplin notes but i really had no use for the encryption of the notes nor was really notetaking on the phone.

Eeqmcsq · 2025-02-19 19:01:02

I use text files for my notes. Text files are so versatile. I can read them with a GUI or console-only text editor. This is very useful if my GUI goes down, and I have to look up my linux command notes to see how I previously solved a problem. I can use any format that fits the notes that I'm writing. This includes writing paragraphs of text, an outline of appointment date/times, a "tree" format for tasks to complete, text-based diagrams and tables, etc. I can search for keywords using cmd line tools like grep. My files aren't dependent on any specific format or app. So I don't have to deal with having the right version of an app that matches the file format, or having a new app version reformat the file structure. I can read my notes on the latest Linux distribution, or a 10 year old distribution, or on any Windows.

I developed/evolved my own format for calendar and tasks. Here's a quick and dirty example. + is done, > is in progress, - is todo, ? is a question to ask, ! is a problem I encountered, x is something I decided not to do or couldn't do.

Feb 01, 2025, Sat: Pick up new 27" monitor from the store

Feb 02, 2025, Sun: Test the new monitor
  * TODO
    x Tape the receipt on the new monitor box.
      ! They didn't give me a paper receipt.
    + Test the HDMI port.
    > Test the VGA port.
    - Replace the old monitor with the new monitor.
    ? How long should I keep the packaging?

Feb 6, 2025, Thu: E-recycle old monitor
  * Recycle location:
    123 Main St
    Anywhere, USA

For the text editor, I mainly use Mate Desktop's pluma, pluma's predecesor Gnome 2's gedit on my old PC with an old Linux installation, or vim if I'm in a console.

ruenoak · 2025-02-19 20:16:32

Yes agreed the universal aspect of text makes them ideal for information storage and retrieval. I have an old Compaq Pentium III laptop running Devuan minimal, really a prof of concept on how Devuan can be used to recycle old technology, but If I had to I can read all my text files on that machine.

quickfur · 2025-02-20 00:12:40

Agree that text files are the most versatile. I generally prefer text files over other formats, because other formats tend to be tied to specific applications, and when those applications break / are not available, your data becomes inaccessible. Whereas anyone and anything can read text files.

Text files are also great for version-controlled projects, because it's easy to compare differences across different versions. Version-controlled binary files require specialized tools and are generally hard to compare in an understandable way. Patches to text files generally also work much better than binary patches, for many reasons.

tl;dr: text files are superior in just about every way, they should be preferred over binary formats where possible.

ruenoak · 2025-02-20 02:52:26

Yes you are right about other formats I work in the field of Records and Archiving and we are well into the world of digital archiving and my work in extracting data from the numerous file formats in existence brings new meaning to format hell! sometimes we can only extract the raw data into a text file and then try to make it human readable.

Text is best!

PedroReina · 2025-02-20 10:30:11

I use text files too. But if I'm on the go and I only carry my phone, I take audio voice notes.

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#1 2025-02-18 22:18:40

Note taking

#2 2025-02-19 14:00:24

Re: Note taking

#3 2025-02-19 19:01:02

Re: Note taking

#4 2025-02-19 20:16:32

Re: Note taking

#5 2025-02-20 00:12:40

Re: Note taking

#6 2025-02-20 02:52:26

Re: Note taking

#7 2025-02-20 10:30:11

Re: Note taking

Board footer