[clue-tech] Note Software?

[Angelo Bertolli]

Jed S. Baer wrote:
> So here's my wishlist:
>   
Since you are unlikely to get exactly what you want (and I can't think 
of something better to contribute anyway), let's see how a subversion 
respository filled with text files and directories meets these.

> I'd rather be able to assign one or more tags to each "note", and then
> have virtual folders based on tags. Even that wouldn't be necessary, as
> long as it was easy to search by tag, and call up a list of all tags for
> browsing.
>   

Besides directories, I don't see how you'd easily tag things in 
subversion this way.  So I guess this one is a fail.

> Being able to link various notes together, preferably in a wiki-like
> fashion, would be great.
>   
Probably not going to satisfy this one unless you use html documents 
instead of text.

> Good handling of links to other content -- local files, URLs, etc. Maybe
> ability to embed content, though I doubt I'd use that much, except for
> small image files. I won't mind simply pasting in URLs and file paths.
>   
This can possibly happen, esp if you just edit your notes as html 
instead of text.

> Auto timestamp for creation date and last modified date for each note.
> Even better, a history of modification dates. When I'm searching for
> something, I might remember when I first noted it, or when I last changed
> it. Or I might remember changing it 3 months ago, but not a trivial
> change I did last week.
>   
Of course all versions and history will be recorded, so I'd give this 
one a pass.


> Easy editing: Either a wiki markup, or some WYSIWYG providing basic
> functions. But not a replacement for a word processor. Wiki markup is
> probably better, because ...
>   
I don't know about this one--I think I've used some pretty simple html 
editors out there.  But I don't know if there's an app that lets you use 
wiki syntax as a desktop application.

> Storage in some format that's recoverable using other tools. Doesn't need
> to be trivially recoverable, but not completely obscure.
>   
HTML is cool for that.

> Or: I haven't yet figured out what the tradeoff is (if there is one at
> all) between fast access and recoverability. One idea I have is to simply
> run MoinMoin, or Dokuwiki, or something. But I don't really want to have
> to worry about database backup and recovery. Well, Doku appears to be a
> flat-file wiki, but I haven't looked at its storage files -- could be
> that'd be very easy to recover. I've lately been intrigued reading about
> key/value pair datastores, which are known for fast access. I don't know
> if that includes searching.
>   

But you'd still need to run a web server with PHP, if you care about 
that at all.  I use Dokuwiki, and I think it's the best out of all the 
wiki software if you want that sort of thing.  Basically dokuwiki stores 
everything in wiki syntax (which is a little different from mediawiki's 
syntax).  It stores old versions in the attic as 
docname.timestamp.txt.gz files.

> Really, what I'm looking for isn't so much a note-taking / organizing
> program, as an information mapping tool. Certainly, I'd write notes to
> myself, but I'd like to keep track of things that I currently have spread
> among disparate methods. For example, in the case of books, I have 3
> places where I have lists of books which have been recommended. What'd be
> great would be to have a tag of "Books", with possible sub-tags of
> "read", "unread", "owned", "borrowed", "to-buy", and "at library". I'd
> also keep track of references and articles on English Enlightenment
> philosophy. I have a large pile of docs on my HDs, quasi-arranged using
> directory heierarchies, and that's proven to be impossible to keep track
> of. (Of course, the process of entering info on all that stuff is
> somewhat daunting as well.)
>   
I see.  Maybe subversion isn't the way to go.  I don't know if this just 
one example, but have you looked at http://www.librarything.com/ ?


Angelo