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Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#261

Post by jdmichal »

Dolores12 wrote: post #247
swebs wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The idea that i am using inefficient software boggles my mind. Then why are you using Windows (dozens of Gb) and not Ubuntu (<5 Gb) or Debian (<1 Gb)?

For my use case (.net development, visual studio) windows used to be superior, more efficient choice. Now, after the release of .NET Core and Visual Studio Code i might re-evaluate it.

And yet it's apparently completely foreign to you that others may make that exact same choice regarding other software?

(And this is coming from a guy that used to program entirely on text editors, because I didn't like how bloaty Eclipse was... I'm not deaf to your plight. I'm just curious that the idea of others making trade offs is so foreign to you.)

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#262

Post by zimbatm »

zachlatta wrote: post #53

I've given up on using any sort of branded app for notetaking. At best it's open source and the maintainers will lose interest in a few years. When you write things down, you're investing in your future. It's silly to use software that isn't making that same investment. After trying Evernote, Workflowy, Notion, wikis, org-mode, and essentially everything else I could find, I gave up and tried building my own system f…

For vim users, vimwiki[1] is great. It combines the wiki with jounaling features and is easy to call up while editing any other files. Just make sure to change the default from wiki to markdown format.

[1]: https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#264

Post by romseb »

kissgyorgy wrote: post #117

Typora! I just found it recently, but maan, I was searching for something like this for a long time! It is basically a Markdown editor but with an unique touch and extra features like outline, sidebar browser, built-in image viewer and stuff. It's very beautiful. https://typora.io/

It does look like a very polished Markdown editor and is available for Mac, Win and Linux. Unfortunately it is neither open source, nor will it be free after the Beta.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#265

Post by fabiospampinato »

This has been bothering me for a while too, I take 3 kinds of notes:

1. Project-related notes: I write those close to the source in a special `.todo` file highlighted with an extension I wrote [1].

2. Short-lived notes: I write those in my sticky notes app [2], which allows me to have different "categories" of notes while still requiring only a single window.

3. Long-lived notes: I write those in Evernote as well, and like many others here I've long searched for a replacement. I guess I'll have to code my own, I don't really need anything fancy, just an interface for searching and tagging markdown files.

[1] https://github.com/fabiospampinato/vscode-todo-plus [2] https://github.com/fabiospampinato/noty

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#266

Post by garyrob »

On the Mac, I highly recommend OmniOutliner. I have outlines that have evolved over, literally, decades. Before using OmniOutliner, I used More, an early Mac outliner that ran on a Mac Plus. OmniOutliner could import More files[1], so, when More was discontinued, I could keep using my outlines without a hitch. I am still actively evolving and growing outlines today that I may been working with, literally, for 40 years or even a bit longer!

I love the process of working with outlines. They're the perfect way to store information in an organized way.

There's a common outline storage format, OPML (Outline Processor Martup Language), which OmniOutliner exports to. So, if the Mac ever entirely disappears, or OmniOutliner's publisher (OmniGroup) goes out of business, you should be able to keep using your OO outlines on whatever platform you move to next. Also, OmniOutliner does run on the iPad today.

One tip which is key to my own use: use hashtags so that you can instantaneously find the outline heading for whatever notes you're looking for.

[1] https://discourse.omnigroup.com/t/does-omnioutliner-import-m...

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#269

Post by swah »

crazygringo wrote: post #235

Google Docs for long-form notes (meetings, classes), Google Keep for short-form (grocery list, to-do, etc.). Nothing beats the fact I can use it instantly across all devices (not Apple-only) and it's free.

And everything is searchable...

One thing that bothers me is the time for starting a new note in Google Docs - quite a few seconds. But there's probably a VSCode extension for that.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite note-taking software?

#270

Post by frumiousirc »

golem14 wrote: post #45
Arkanosis wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This, plus Orgzly on my phone, because I don't always have a computer on me.

Is there a way to sync orgzly to Google drive? Not natively, sadly, only Dropbox supported. Too invested in the Google ecosystem to also depend on Dropbox. I have tried some folder sync apps, but I prefer not to depend on those either.

I use syncthing to sync Org content between android and linux for orgzly consumption. I don't see any reason why I couldn't add a syncthing that copied into a mounted Google Drive if I wanted my info up on that cloud.
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