Org Mode tries to be an outliner. Outliners are the right tool for the job from my experience (> 30 years) since you can create and use context to reduce redundancy and makes it easier to find and to understand things again retrospectively. I had a look at Org Mode many years ago when switching from Windows to a Linux laptop which meant that I needed an alternative for Ecco Pro. But I quickly reached the limits with Org Mode and a few other tools and finally developed my own tool, which has proven itself over more than a decade in daily use in large, complex projects. A few years ago I released it as open source: https://github.com/rochus-keller/crossline
I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
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Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#12I've been using org mode to maintain a personal work log for around ten years.
General structure is a file per month, a toplevel outline heading per day, and a global hotkey that takes me to 'today' with a single button. I use a private git repository to archive it to a secure place and replicate across different machines if needed. (Not common.)
Code here:
https://github.com/mschaef/.emacs.d/blob/master/lisp/orglog....
It's worked well, but generally speaking the key to logging is less the code/system and much more the discipline to write every day. I'm hit or miss on that front, but still find it useful to both formalize my thoughts on things into english and also occasionally go back to look at previous things I've done. (Oh, and it makes developing lists of accomplishments for annual reviews an easy thing.)
Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just log into a remote shell and execute emacs-org-mode from there. Like, remote shells are free 2022, no? I agree that if all the devices can't generalize to one source then it isn't as rewarding.
Cool idea! I do like to be able to work on it offline, e.g. on planes, though.
Have you tried using Syncthing? It's open source, free as in beer, and should fit your usecase well. I'm using it for my Obsidian notes, and it's pretty much frictionless.
Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#14Org Mode tries to be an outliner. Outliners are the right tool for the job from my experience (> 30 years) since you can create and use context to reduce redundancy and makes it easier to find and to understand things again retrospectively. I had a look at Org Mode many years ago when switching from Windows to a Linux laptop which meant that I needed an alternative for Ecco Pro. But I quickly reached the limits with…
What does your tool do that Org Mode doesn't? I.e. what are those limitations you ran into?
Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#15Org Mode tries to be an outliner. Outliners are the right tool for the job from my experience (> 30 years) since you can create and use context to reduce redundancy and makes it easier to find and to understand things again retrospectively. I had a look at Org Mode many years ago when switching from Windows to a Linux laptop which meant that I needed an alternative for Ecco Pro. But I quickly reached the limits with…
What does your tool do that Org Mode doesn't? I.e. what are those limitations you ran into?
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Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#16Org Mode tries to be an outliner. Outliners are the right tool for the job from my experience (> 30 years) since you can create and use context to reduce redundancy and makes it easier to find and to understand things again retrospectively. I had a look at Org Mode many years ago when switching from Windows to a Linux laptop which meant that I needed an alternative for Ecco Pro. But I quickly reached the limits with…
Your comment is probably true, org-mode vs X features, for any tool X, but org mode (ie all of emacs) is a tool construction kit, not an especially good tool itself.
Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#17Org Mode tries to be an outliner. Outliners are the right tool for the job from my experience (> 30 years) since you can create and use context to reduce redundancy and makes it easier to find and to understand things again retrospectively. I had a look at Org Mode many years ago when switching from Windows to a Linux laptop which meant that I needed an alternative for Ecco Pro. But I quickly reached the limits with…
What does your tool do that Org Mode doesn't? I.e. what are those limitations you ran into?
E.g. more typing, or you have to look to the screen when navigating; in Crossline - even more than in Ecco Pro - I can operate with shortcuts, but shortcuts optimized for an outliner, not just an editor with structured formating; Crossline allows me to look at the people I discuss with during the meeting and take structured notes at the same time without taking my hands off the keyboard and without looking to my laptop; of course one could build something like Crossline on top of Emacs (with limitations), but there is a point where you start to fight the fact that Emacs is an editor infrastructure, not a general purpose GUI toolkit; that's why I implemented Crossline in C++ using (modified) Qt.
Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#18Interesting to see habits tracked using an org property drawer. I hadn't considered this before. Org itself has habit-tracking support https://orgmode.org/manual/Tracking-your-habits.html using :STYLE: habit. I'm head-in org land. For habit-tracking, I found removing friction from the tracking process itself absolutely fundmental for longer term success (Atomic Habits, the book, corroborates). Like the author, I also…
Your work is contributing to the org-mode renaissance; users of the world appreciate you! Now if I could just get multi-platform sync working correctly (iCloud doesn't play nice with Linux)...
Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#19There's a school of throught, prevalent at the last Emacs conference
(See Karl Voit's talk), that Org is also a notation/markup. So-called
"org-down" has been put forward with foundational semantics, headings,
lists, emphasis and other basics.
https://karl-voit.at/2021/11/27/orgdown/
I'd actually love to see Gemini and HN adopt orgdown. Just sayin... :)
Re: I use Org Mode for personal logging/journalling
#20Org Mode tries to be an outliner. Outliners are the right tool for the job from my experience (> 30 years) since you can create and use context to reduce redundancy and makes it easier to find and to understand things again retrospectively. I had a look at Org Mode many years ago when switching from Windows to a Linux laptop which meant that I needed an alternative for Ecco Pro. But I quickly reached the limits with…
I, too, was a fan of Ecco in the 90s, but it was discontinued in 1997.
OrgMode wasn't even born until 2003, so my guess is that you made your choice about Org very, very early on.
I cautiously suggest that maybe Org does more now than you realize. Your tool seems . . . well, very dated-looking to start.