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Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#81

Post by smolsky »

codeCatalyst wrote: post #72

zimwiki pros: * open source * stored as a bunch of linked text files * can version control with git * wysiwyg markdown(media-wiki syntax) editor http://zim-wiki.org/

Yeah, mini-wiki in your file system is cool. Just started using it and have mixed feelings:

* The files can live anywhere (say, the Dropbox folder)

* The files are plain text

* The markup is minimal and there is UI for it

* The app is a bit old-school - none of the flat ui, panes, online-email-style stuff. No Electron.

All good so far. Yet the app forces the user to organize stuff into linked pages. Let's see whether I have the patience to stick with it.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#83

Post by jhabdas »

For privacy and portability the text editor in Tails Live OS is no frills. Notes are basic text files, persisted to a password protected and encrypted disk partition, with the option to additionally encrypt and password protect individual files.

Notes are saved in a standard format and can locked down in an instant simply by pulling the Tails USB from whatever device you happen to be using.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#84

Post by craftyguy »

zie wrote: post #21

plain text files and your favorite editor, whatever that is. things that should be encrypted are either gpg encrytped or put in my password manager. Bonus if you format your plain text with markdown or asciidoc or whatever your fav. plain text markup language is. Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. Put it in a VCS for super double bonus points :) me personally: Vim, asciidoc and in a fossil repo.

I wonder if there's a vim plugin to automatically call gpg to decrypt a file, NOT put it in swp, and re-encrypt it with gpg when writing it to disk...

Edit: and there is![1] I'm definitely using this.

https://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=3645

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#85

Post by stamps »

codeCatalyst wrote: post #72

zimwiki pros: * open source * stored as a bunch of linked text files * can version control with git * wysiwyg markdown(media-wiki syntax) editor http://zim-wiki.org/

Great for storing files along with notes.

Saved me a couple times with re-occurring or forgettable issues.

Recently with Virtual Box I needed to install the Intel USB 3.0 driver when spinning up an old WES7 VM. Had the note and the executable right there.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#88

Post by deepakg »

For short notes I've been using deft[1] on emacs. It gives a Notational Velocity like interface for searching/viewing within emacs. The actual note-taking is via org-mode.

For notes from online courses, I recently started using the stock Notes app on macOS/iOS because of the Pencil support on the iPad.

Not sure if this helps as I don't know what platform/editor you use and I wouldn't expect you to switch either for note taking :)

1. https://jblevins.org/projects/deft/

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#89

Post by veli_joza »

cam_l wrote: post #63

Workflowy is great for quick, structured, hierarchical note taking. It is basically a text only bulleted list of lists. Navigable by keyboard or mouse and syncs to whatever phone / desktop etc you have. Too expensive by half, and I don't think it is client side encrypted which is a deal breaker for anything sensitive. I really enjoy the simplicity though, great for checklists, writing papers, and all those little rar…

Can you please expand a bit more on your ideal note app? Results sound intriguing, but I can't imagine what it would look like from this short description.
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