I use books (writing by pencil) and also plain text files on computer. This works fine for me.
Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
111–120 of 129 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#112Last year, I went through this whole gamut of the usual suspects emacs(org-mode), plain text, markdown, tiddlywiki/ mediawiki/bunch of other wikis, google keep, one note, notational velocity, anki, evernote, LaTeX. One after the other, they all crumbled. I tried them all and failed. I got to a point of calm reflection based on my experience with each one. I realized what was most important for me. I eventually settled on a combination of email + git + google calendar. I use a separate email just for my notes. Every new thought, todo, bookmarks, quotes, images of doodles, event, information about people becomes a new email. Any update on the same one becomes a reply to the last email on that subject. Any topic or area that gathers enough content or insight that’s worth remembering goes to my git repo’s wiki page. If there’s enough content/files/code, it gets a directory. Common patterns, get linked via their respective wiki pages. I create collections of related topics as separate wiki pages with links back to the source.
This setup has worked well for me for over 6 months now. I do not worry about email / git becoming obsolete. Or how I would move my email/git data when I need to switch vendors. I can access it via any device I own or through someone else’s. Stuff I want to share with people are hosted via git pages or sent via email. I have a plethora of client applications to choose from. And above all... it just works.
I can give out more details but I feel anyone’s personal information needs can be met/exceeded with a combination of email + git + calendar.
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#113I think a public GitHub in markdown format is a wise choice. Firstly markdown can look nice but will always be readable using cat (not what cats for but leaving that to one side...), so there is the longevity factor. Using github means you’ll probably have a local copy, and you can subject the repo to your normal backup procedures. But you also have another backup in Github itself. Finally making it public will encourage you to curate it and keep it up to date and not blasé delete old stuff (and git protects you from that too because a force push is required to really delete something). Most importantly it’s easy - open any editor and start writing, then commit ‘n’ push when done.
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#114Last year, I went through this whole gamut of the usual suspects emacs(org-mode), plain text, markdown, tiddlywiki/ mediawiki/bunch of other wikis, google keep, one note, notational velocity, anki, evernote, LaTeX. One after the other, they all crumbled. I tried them all and failed. I got to a point of calm reflection based on my experience with each one. I realized what was most important for me. I eventually settle…
This is a fascinating approach and would actually solve a lot of the problems I've had with trying this before. I would love to hear more if you had anything additional to add because this method has become the top of my list after trying several software packages mentioned thus far.
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#115Yes, I started one a few months ago at https://github.com/as1ndu/notes
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#116I am currently experimenting with Notion, really well done knowledge orgination, but not open-source and paid... so long term might be hard. Anyone has any experience with Notion?
yes. Actually I don't mind to pay if that's something that will help me to keep my mind organized so I can minimize brain mistakes
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is the most impressive example of the genre that I've seen: https://wiki.xxiivv.com/ (engine: https://wiki.xxiivv.com/#oscean ) Yeah. I am currently using org-mode (plus org-wiki, some bespoke elisp and a few shell scripts) for my own knowledge base , but Oscean/the Nataniev ecosystem in general has impressed me. plus Zotero for papers/PDFs, plus a pile'o'files stashed using the Universal Decimal Classificatio…
> The idea is to move away from documents (which org-mode is very good at), and towards smaller, rich chunks of information (which org-mode can't handle that well - I hacked things up with properties, but that namespace is flat). I've noticed this weakness in org-mode as well. It's really a fantastic tool, but it still has a few gaps here or there. I'm optimistic about its continued development though. It's good to h…
> I'm optimistic about its continued development though.
Org is amazing, yes, but I'm not too optimistic about this - even if some of its more noticeable warts got fixed (a big one, for me, is the fact that you cannot nest quote blocks), it would still represent a tree of nodes, and trees are somewhat limiting where it comes to knowledge representation.
You can organize information in a tree, but it doesn't neatly fit that model, and just deciding where to put each snippet you captured can be a huge hassle.
> It's good to hear that you liked the Oscean/Nataniev tools; I haven't tried them and it could easily have been all style no substance. They certainly sound impressive. From what I've read, I have a feeling there might be something worthwhile there. And XXIIVV itself looks amazing, although I know that's just one implementation.
I'm not too sure, either, but I'm going to take a stab at implementing something Oscean-like. I want to see where this approach can take me.
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#118I use DevonThink. It's an incredible piece of software.
I have a database for 'research' where items are stored according to the Dewey Decimal categories (no particular reason for choosing this other than it's well organised and well documented).
I then have a separate 'memex' database which contains my journal and other miscellanies.
DevonThink has a rudimentary AI system which attempts to link documents by context. I find it quite useful.
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#119Last year, I went through this whole gamut of the usual suspects emacs(org-mode), plain text, markdown, tiddlywiki/ mediawiki/bunch of other wikis, google keep, one note, notational velocity, anki, evernote, LaTeX. One after the other, they all crumbled. I tried them all and failed. I got to a point of calm reflection based on my experience with each one. I realized what was most important for me. I eventually settle…
This is a fascinating approach and would actually solve a lot of the problems I've had with trying this before. I would love to hear more if you had anything additional to add because this method has become the top of my list after trying several software packages mentioned thus far.
I'm happy this appears to solve your problems with other approaches. I took out a few minor but important details. use a separate email client for this on all devices. Use conversation/threaded view. Have a way to send an email in under 5 sec. I use iOS shortcuts to quickly send an an email with just the subject. Review the list of emails almost everyday. Have folders in your email and move them as necessary. Keep it under 5-7 folders. Ideas,Bookmarks,Done,Projects. Inbox is your list of ongoing high priority tasks. Stay away from adding petty tasks(use a paper/pen for this). Trash task emails once you're done. If its worth noting, it goes to git.
Re: Ask HN: Do you keep a personal knowledge repository?
#120I am beginning to use a zettelkasten. I think it's an excellent method for doing deep thinking, especially over a long period of time. See https://www.seanlawson.net/2018/02/use-zettelkasten-method-s... and https://zoia.org/2018/11/13/zettelkasten/ for good introductions.
Reading this will change your life: https://www.amazon.com/How-Take-Smart-Notes-Nonfiction/dp/15...
I'm committed to text-only information. No matter how many notes I'm writing, I can always use grep or write my own programs to find what I want.
If you're on a Mac, The Archive is great (https://zettelkasten.de/the-archive/). It's what I'm using
zettelkasten.de has lots of good reading (thanks, Sascha and Christian!), but look to the other sources I've listed to get a more thorough idea of what a zettelkasten is (I call mine a thinking-box) and how to use one.