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Ask Slashdot: Open Tools For Logbooks and Note-taking?

New submitter leonstr writes: I'm a sysadmin and I like to record my daily work in a logbook: technical notes, work progress, actions from meetings, etc. I started with the word processor on the venerable Psion Series 3a but for about 10 years I've been using Amaya. It's FLOSS, cross-platform and uses an open file format (XHTML). Amaya has its quirks but I really like it; unfortunately it's no longer being updated and I feel it's time to change. So I wonder: what do other people use for recording their work? What works well and meets your requirements?

227 comments

  1. Change just because? by fisted · · Score: 3, Insightful

    it's no longer being updated and I feel it's time to change.

    This mindset is ridiculous. Why do you "feel a need to change" if it still works for you? Are you expecting remote security vulnerabilities to show up in your note-taking software?

    1. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sometimes we just like to use something else after doing the same thing for 10 years. There is no harm in asking to see if there is an alternative. For instance, I used to use HTML for my notes before switching to markdown. I could have used HTML indefinitely but I found there were some advantages to markdown that serve me better.

    2. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I had the same feeling... sort of defeats one of the main purposes of using a FLOSS tool if you're going to abandon it when the original developers stop providing constant updates.

    3. Re:Change just because? by Hydrian · · Score: 1

      it's no longer being updated and I feel it's time to change.

      This mindset is ridiculous. Why do you "feel a need to change" if it still works for you? Are you expecting remote security vulnerabilities to show up in your note-taking software?

      He did say that there were 'quirks' to it. To me that means bugs or implementations that don't work for him. If the developers aren't working on it anymore, what hope does the user have to getting the quirks resolved?

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished.
    4. Re:Change just because? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 0

      Sometimes we just like to use something else after doing the same thing for 10 years. There is no harm in asking to see if there is an alternative.

      That why (1) the divorce rate is so high and (2) people are in debt. As long as something still works, find new ways to enjoy what you have.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    5. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YES. If you don't update code, someone will make a point of finding and posting the security vulnerabilties in it.
      And yes, we do see security vulnerabilities in things like word, onenote and really anything similar you can think of. An active support and dev community is an important thing.

    6. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well then, as long as we aren't extrapolating to absurd extremes, whilst armchair analyzing...

    7. Re:Change just because? by renderhead · · Score: 2

      When it comes to the tools we use to do our jobs, it can be valuable to look up from what we've always used and see what else is available. It may be that one of the competing options has a game-changing feature that fits your needs perfectly while your current solution is stagnant.

      There is always a cost to switching, but everyone has their own threshold where that cost is lower than the cost of sticking with an antiquated system.

      --
      I wish that my inferiority complex were as good as yours.

      -RenderHead

    8. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Markdown is convenient especially in situations where a wiki is overkill. If a webapp is sufficient, http://dillinger.io, https://stackedit.io (source code available on GitHub), http://markable.in, http://markdownpad.com (if you already use Microsoft Windows), http://jbt.github.io/markdown-editor/ (source code available on GitHub: https://github.com/jbt/markdown-editor)

    9. Re:Change just because? by war4peace · · Score: 2

      Divorce rate is so high... is that a bad thing? Maybe it should have been high in the first place and nowadays we're reaching normal counts.
      People are in debt? Good. It's a very effective way of maintaining slavery within the law. CEOs from around the world, rejoice!

      Now, to answer the submitter: Notepad++.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    10. Re:Change just because? by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Because there might be better tools out there.
      Sticking with fire and a cave works well enough... until you realize something better awaits discovery.

      I'd go with Notepad++ for simplicity and FreeMind for feature list.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    11. Re:Change just because? by leonstr · · Score: 4, Informative

      Submitter here. It's got a crash bug I can work around to avoid and I think XHTML is a dead end. And yes, I wondered what else was about. I normally have one file per year so I thought if I was going to change for 2016, it was time to see what the options were. Thanks all for suggestions so far!

    12. Re:Change just because? by fisted · · Score: 1

      But he said he liked his existing solution.

    13. Re:Change just because? by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

      Wow. Just. Wow.

    14. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I feel that "wow" becomes a boring word. Perhaps see if there is an alternative.

    15. Re: Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      But it's still supported!

    16. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      xhtml is not a dead https://html.spec.whatwg.org/#html-vs-xhtml and https://html.spec.whatwg.org/#toc-the-xhtml-syntax

    17. Re:Change just because? by mysidia · · Score: 2

      That why (1) the divorce rate is so high and (2) people are in debt.

      Your notetaking application is just a tool, not a lifelong commitment, or something super-expensive to replace.

    18. Re:Change just because? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      That why (1) the divorce rate is so high and (2) people are in debt.

      Your notetaking application is just a tool, not a lifelong commitment, or something super-expensive to replace.

      Granted. I was just making a general observation to the statement: "Sometimes we just like to use something else after doing the same thing for 10 years." as this seems to be a common thing in our modern, disposable U.S. society.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    19. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe instead of being a typical Slashdouche, you could either answer his question with a suggestion, as he requested, or just shut the fuck up entirely. Your opinion on his wanting a change doesn't matter to anyone.

    20. Re:Change just because? by fisted · · Score: 1

      If i had something to suggest, I'd have suggested it.
      My comment reflects what I was thinking when reading the submission.
      I'm sorry if it caused you tears or anger, do you need a tissue?

    21. Re:Change just because? by bjwest · · Score: 1

      The fact it's no longer being updated means it will be depreciated within a couple of years. Linux isn't static, and although most legacy cli applications can and do run fine, graphical applications show their age and/or completely start to falter as the desktop evolves. I really don't blame him for looking for alternatives. If any application I used on a daily basis was no longer being updated, I'd start looking for replacements as well.

      --

      --- Keep the choice with the user..
    22. Re:Change just because? by greenfruitsalad · · Score: 2

      EVERY effing time somebody asks something on slashdot, a smartarse like you has to come to the rescue with their stupid assumptions and questions trying to ridicule the question as invalid.

      I too am looking for a note-taking software that isn't a wiki or a ms onenote. but to get to an answer, i have to read through drivel such as yours. maybe there should be a separate quota for OFFTOPIC downvoting points. e.g 100 offtopic points every day for every user.

    23. Re:Change just because? by fisted · · Score: 0

      Take your meds, moron. If you want a decent Ask Slashdot, try pushing the submitters to actually include relevant information in their submission.

    24. Re: Change just because? by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Why commit to something you grow to despise? Why endure misery?
      High divorce rate is a direct result of freedom of choice without being blamed by society. In the past, this (divorce) was severely restricted by religion and society. It could have gotten you killed in vast regions of the planet. It still can, here and there.

      Everyone is free to start a marathon and everyone is free to abandon it if they realize they hate it.
      Take a bottle of wine, for example. The label is nice, all's good, but you open it and taste it and it's vinegar. According to you, you should drink it all because fuck preference. Your happiness, your well-being don't matter, you committed to drinking that bottle of wine when you opened, now suck it up and down the hatch with it. Come on, don't be shy!

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    25. Re:Change just because? by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Try mind manaer-type software. FreeMind is a great tool for managing projects, I'm using it extensively for a very large project (using multiple files though).

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    26. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The question was exceedingly clear: he's looking for suggestions for note-taking software. I'm sorry you have difficulty with reading comprehension. I'm sorry you're disappointed in life, and so angry with the world. Chin up, friend. Life will get better.

    27. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If i had something to suggest, I'd have suggested it.

      Hence, take the second alternative, and shut the fuck up. Nobody is interested in what you were "thinking when reading the submission." What is this? A stream of consciousness? We just vomit anything we're thinking onto the page, no matter its relevance?

    28. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And even if you do feel the need to burden us all with your infinitesimally low signal-to-noise ratio, the more egregious issue is your immediate aggression. Your first sentence is "This mindset is ridiculous." No, you're a ridiculous douchebag. And yes, you can try and hide behind douchey questions like "Do you need a tissue?" You're a tough guy. But, at the end of the day, you're also still a douchebag. Cheers!

    29. Re:Change just because? by fisted · · Score: 1

      The question was exceedingly clear: he's looking for suggestions for note-taking software.

      Yes. And the only stated reason for this was "because no longer updated". How does that have anything to do with whether or not I may question the motives?

      What am I even arguing with AC..

    30. Re:Change just because? by fisted · · Score: 1

      [angry off topic rant]

      low signal-to-noise ratio

      [resumes angry off topic rant]

      I guess the irony is lost on you here. My initial comment was at least somewhat related to TFS while your whining (do you need another tissue by any chance?) is *pure* noise.

    31. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I need software to document what I do at work. I have nothing. What would you suggest? Oh, you need a reason for me to ask? And yet you have no actual answer to the question? Then sit down and STFU!

    32. Re:Change just because? by fisted · · Score: 1

      Troll harder, AC.

    33. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are multiple ACs here. And, it would appear the irony is lost on you, if you're criticizing us of trolling. Have a great night, douche.

    34. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fisted's definitely a trolling idiot. Apk just kicked his ass for it this week http://slashdot.org/comments.p... + http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    35. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where's your sourcecode or a program you've done others say is good fisted? Non-existence is where.

    36. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where's your sourcecode or a program you've done others say is good fisted? Non-existence is where!

    37. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where's your sourcecode or a program you've done others say is good fisted? Non-existence is where it is. It just isn't...

    38. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where's your sourcecode or a program you've done others say is good fisted? Non-existence is where it is. It just isn't.

    39. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where's your sourcecode or a program you've done others say is good fisted? Non-existence is where it is. It just isn't..

    40. Re:Change just because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where's your sourcecode or a program you've done others say is good fisted? Non-existence is where it is. It isn't.

    41. Re:Change just because? by mrge.org · · Score: 1

      +1 for mindmapping. But I would suggest Leo outlining editor.

  2. Vi by MagickalMyst · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Vi

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
    1. Re:Vi by LWATCDR · · Score: 2

      Vim, Emacs, Notepad++, Kedit, Word, JOE, SciTE,or any other editor should do just fine.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    2. Re:Vi by unrtst · · Score: 1

      Vi

      That's all I use, but I was really hoping to see some more interesting answers than what has been provided. This is a very common "problem", and I know my text file solution has numerous deficiencies. The saving grace for a text file + vim is my proficiency with vim and the benefits that result from that. For example, there is no way in hell that a standard html + cgi based solution would ever suffice - way too slow to make updates, change status on things, move stuff around, etc. It's possible that a very rich web 2.0 thing may be able to do it, but it's got some big shoes to fill.

      For detailed time tracking, I've used this before: https://projecthamster.wordpre...
      It's not really the same as note taking, but there's some cross over there. It was one of the easiest to use though, and that won some points in my book.

    3. Re:Vi by Snotnose · · Score: 1

      Me too. I keep a daily log using vim. It's FLOSS, cross-platform and uses an open file format (text), It's also easily searchable via several tools. I don't think it's been updated for a few years now, but it doesn't have any limitations that really bother me.

    4. Re:Vi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Emacs user here. I disagree. It's good for large editing tasks but with a realistic .emacs file it takes to long to startup to use it as a light notepad.

    5. Re:Vi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have heard about emacsclient, haven't you?

    6. Re: Vi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Emacs running in server mode is lightning fast

    7. Re:Vi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've just switched to VimWiki which has a 'diary' mode that makes keeping notes organized pretty easy.

      That being said, there are a number of ways to do this with a simple text editor and a script to help manage time stamps

    8. Re:Vi by leonstr · · Score: 2

      Vim's great (and it's still actively developed). But Amaya gives me a WYSIWYG-ish layout so I can have indented bullets, quoted text, etc. I can also include images, so easier to include a screenshot or a graph (a picture paints a thousand words -- no matter how good the text editor!).

    9. Re:Vi by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

      Use vim to write a markdown document. Markdown is WYSIWYG-ish.

      Use pandoc to convert it to almost any other popular format.

    10. Re:Vi by vtcodger · · Score: 1

      I agree with the initial comment that if what one has works, changing it seems strange. Red-Queen Races have no winners -- only losers. But knowing where one will go if their tool somehow actually won't do what they need done is reasonable.

      Point: I'm not wild about markdown, but isn't the whole point of markdown that you don't need a special editor -- just (possibly) software to convert markdown text to a real markup language when you need formatted output.

      Editors? There's a zillion of them and most are at least adequate. Personally, I've loathed vi since before many of you were born, and constant updating hasn't really done all that much for it in my opinion. But still, many people seem to like it and it's worth looking at. emacs is perhaps more likeable, but as someone commented, it's slow -- especially on limited machinery. In principle, jed is well-mannered, but it never seemed to attract the developer community it needed to make it work well in diverse environments. etc, etc, etc

      IIRC Wikipedia lists about 6 dozen text editors and I'm sure there are hundreds more. Most are probably usable. One of them should suit

      --
      You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
    11. Re:Vi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Use emacs org-mode.

      I had a student who used it to take notes in class, then exported them to HTML and put them on the web for his classmates.

    12. Re: Vi by Zombie · · Score: 1

      That is *awesome*. I've been doing vim with yyyymmdd in the filenames for years. I seem to be the only person in the company who can find back his notes, ever, thanks to (ack-)grep, find and xargs. But sharing my notes with others has always been a problem. I've got monospace text recognition hardwired in my brain, but the majority of you puny humans seem to think that that's hard to read. I'm switching to markdown as of tomorrow. Thank you, and thanks to the OP for this Ask Slashdot.

    13. Re:Vi by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      It seems to start up fast enough on my system. I tend to use notepad++ at work since I do windows development. On Linux I am a fan of JOE because I am old enough to have used Wordstar and Turbo Pascal so the command set is like an old friend to me plus it is tiny and works great over ssh. If Joe is not on the system then I fall back to Vi/VIM.
      I will say that I have a really good PC at work with a ton of ram and SSDs.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  3. systemd by Hognoxious · · Score: 1, Funny

    Systemd has it built-in. However it stores them in binary (when it stores them at all) but this is better because text is for luddites.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:systemd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mods, this is a joke.

  4. Post Its by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    I only take a single Post-It note to meetings. That helps people around me prioritize. Then, once I'm done with the stuff on the Post-It, I recycle it.

    (I used to take copious notes and kept them forever but that just pissed people off; there's comfort in having their thoughts from the past forgotten.)

    1. Re:Post Its by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I used to take copious notes and kept them forever but that just pissed people off; there's comfort in having their thoughts from the past forgotten

      Ummmm .... tough?

      My notes are my record of what happens. They're my CYA in case someone demands we do something stupid, or comes back later and tries to claim something else was agreed upon. And they're how I know what was decided and what I need to be doing.

      Too bad if your good notes are a problem for someone later on who doesn't want the things they've said remembered. I'm not saying that "John said that Sally has a bad haircut" is something you write down. You're not trying to be the National Enquirer here.

      But if John says he'll deliver the document to Sally, and that he agrees with your proposal ... you sure as hell record that.

      Because when John tries to blame it on you later on, you flip back to your notes and say "nope, says right here". Because we're all met that particular John guy who tries to rewrite history and claim he never agreed to that.

      In fact, with sales guys, and VPs and the like, I make an extra point of making sure they see I'm writing it down. Because they're the most likely to suddenly develop a case of remembering things differently than actually happened.

      I'm not there to provide comfort for people who would rather people not remember what they said.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Post Its by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, your notes probably don't mean shit to a VP looking to assign blame. You'd be better off just making shit up and forging an "old" email

    3. Re:Post Its by MountainLogic · · Score: 2

      Or these is the original Hipster PDA

    4. Re:Post Its by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sorry, your notes probably don't mean shit to a VP looking to assign blame

      This is why grownups who have meetings have someone send meeting minutes.

      Specifically because there are far too many assholes in the world to not take steps to a) cover your ass, and b) hold people accountable.

      I've lost track of the times that 2-3 people all pull up the meeting notes and day "nope, you were the one who decided we wouldn't do that".

      Keeping VPs from weaseling out of stuff/assigning blame later is a valuable life skill.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    5. Re:Post Its by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Because we're all met that particular John guy"

      Yes, we're all met him.

    6. Re:Post Its by leonstr · · Score: 2

      This! This is a key reason why I tell everyone to keep notes. There's a saying in healthcare: "If you don't write it down it didn't happen" and it applies to so many spheres. Even if your notes aren't recognised as an official record, you're most of the way to winning an argument if you've got contemporaneous notes to fall back on. Yes a VP might not accept them but other parties will quickly flounder when eyes turn to them in an awkward meeting...

    7. Re:Post Its by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      I knew a guy who worked for one of our suppliers. He used to produce notes to back up things that would have made him look bad. We quickly realised that his notes were bullshit, and didn't match our email archives.

      To cover your arse, send email.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:Post Its by KGIII · · Score: 1

      WTF kind of toxic places do you people work at? The more I read this type of shit, the more it boggles my mind. How are these companies even in business?

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    9. Re:Post Its by ruir · · Score: 1

      It depends on the places, but often the best strategy is really to have minutes of meetings. It is not in written form, it did not happen. Plus, you have people that say shit counting on others not to remember that after a couple of months, and who often get furious when we send a minute of the meeting. As the parent says, grow people need to cover their ass.

    10. Re:Post Its by ruir · · Score: 1

      Who fucking cares if he does not accept them...

    11. Re:Post Its by RuffMasterD · · Score: 1

      I work at a university. I spend 10-20% of my time covering my ass. The alternative is to work unpaid overtime to get my ass out of trouble. A couple of weeks ago my manager accused me of something rather uncharacteristic of me. I searched my emails, found very clear evidence to refute the issue, problem solved. Happens every few weeks. Other senior researchers like to request something simple and vague, but when I deliver they suddenly remember that they asked for something very specific and different. Record requirements, confirm with client via email, keep for later. Colleagues 'forgot' things they say in meetings all the time, which is convenient for them, because meetings are where the most overt blackmail, backstabbing, buck-passing, and general jerking around happens. Now I write those down too, and confirm via email afterwards. People are a bit more careful about what they say in meetings now.

      How are we still in business? Student loans, government grants, and high barriers to entry for competitors.

      --
      Human Rights, Article 12: Freedom from Interference with Privacy, Family, Home and Correspondence
    12. Re:Post Its by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I went from the military to academia to owning my own company. We did have staff to take notes in meetings with clients and recorded those meetings. Orders were often written in the military. But, from the way I read their post, this was just dealing with coworkers during normal interactions, at least part of the time. Yeah, we've got a lot on our plate but we remember these things, don't lie about these things, and keep updated with these things. Meetings with clients, yeah, we recorded stuff but it was all written into contracts and any changes required returning to the contract to make changes.

      It just seems toxic to me. Like backstabbing, lying, cheating, and other ineptitudes; Not on the part of the OP but on the part of the people they are working with. I can't imagine feeling like I have to defend myself or dealing with coworkers who would behave in a manner where I needed written notes to "prove" something. That this is normal enough behavior to warrant an actual need to document conversations is, wow... Just, wow.... It's foreign to me?

      The more I think about it, the more I read, the more grateful I am that I've just been damned lucky - it seems. In the end, I had about two hundred people who worked with me (not "for" me - there's a difference) and everyone was vetted carefully so this was never an issue. I'm sure that some candidates were turned away who may have had that sort of behavior, the type needing to defend against, but nobody hired ever really was a problem. We didn't even have an HR department - not one single person. Candidates had a tertiary interview that involved anyone in the company who felt they'd be interested - a whole panel. Only a half dozen ever normally showed up. Maybe that's why we never had issues like this? *shrugs* I don't know?

      It just seems toxic. The idea that I can't trust you to do what you said - and will need notes to prove it? Sure, people make mistakes and forget. That's why you follow up and check on their progress. "Hey, Neil. How's the Macy account going? Did you get the database to sort properly? It's going to have to such to do some of that data insertion manually, huh? Need a hand with it? I know Jeff's said he's got some free time at the end of this week. Do we need more staff?"

      I don't know how you deal with that sort of stuff for eight hours a day. It's different with a client but that's recorded and on paper in a contract. Say what you do, do what you say. ISO 9002. :/ Then again, we were a small company. We only had a little over two hundred employees. We had three offices that were fully staffed and two that maintained a skeleton crew but scaled as needed when we had work in the region. We were mostly programmers, IT staff, mathematicians, modelers, traffic engineers, and secretarial staff. We didn't even have a real sales department, just customer service and representatives who fielded questions. Maybe that has something to do with it, too.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    13. Re:Post Its by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Holy shit... Seriously. I could not work like that. I just, a few seconds prior to you replying (it seems), replied to another user and went into some details and, honestly, I feel very fortunate. It seems, as I stated, toxic. I could not, I would not, work like that. I'm retired but I owned my own company and never, not really, had a single issue of this nature. Anything even close to that was nipped in the bud but we were small (around two hundred employees in three offices and two skeleton-crew offices). I don't recall it ever being an issue - we did have a couple of times where stuff was forgotten but I think it was legitimately forgotten in the rush and we all pulled together and made it work on time. It was never the same person and was only a few times. We didn't need to take notes, we talked. We followed up.

      Heh... For a while, way too long, we did have logging on an IRC system in the office. That got abused more than it was used - if it was used then it was just as a reminder.

      This backstabbing, blackmailing, etc. nonsense just seems foreign to me. I went military, academia, private. So, I don't have much experience working for other people or in a large business. In the military most orders are written down, in some form or another, so there's that but I wasn't the one doing the note taking and if they were going to bitch at me then they were going to bitch at me no matter how many notes I produced to the contrary. In academia, I actually had a fairly simple time, so to speak. I did have a few issues when preparing to my defense but those were quickly figured out and everything got done on time and went according to plan, mostly...

      I really, I just couldn't. I'd quit. I don't have the patience for that sort of crap. If you tell me that you're going to do something then do it. Otherwise be honest and tell me to piss off. I'll extend the same courtesy. If you say you're going to have it done on Friday then have it done on Friday. If, come Wednesday, you figure out you need more time then don't wait until Friday to tell me. Tell me on Wednesday and I'll get you the help you need or help you myself (that's motivation to not do help, right there!)

      Sorry for your work life. That has to suck. I seriously wouldn't want to work with people that I could not trust. I sure as hell wouldn't want them working "for" me, either.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    14. Re:Post Its by ruir · · Score: 1

      I did not deal with it 8h a day. There were a 2 or 3 known rotten apples who abused the trust system. We already counted on having problems with them, and registered everything.

    15. Re:Post Its by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Other senior researchers like to request something simple and vague, but when I deliver they suddenly remember that they asked for something very specific and different."

      I laughed out loud at that. It ought to be a Dilbert cartoon.

  5. Old school paper ... by gstoddart · · Score: 1

    I kick it old school ... I have a stack of lab books spanning the last 20+ years.

    I write the date on the page, and start taking notes.

    No technology required.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Old school paper ... by Paco103 · · Score: 1

      I used to do that, but the manufacturers of my notebooks stopped releasing updates (new ones).

      This sounds like a joke, but I *LIKED* my 5-star notebooks with heavyweight (20 lb) paper. Most notebooks have terribly thin paper. I haven't found a replacement.

    2. Re:Old school paper ... by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 2

      I have a similar problem with toilet paper. The rolls nowadays are narrower than the old standard, and I have one old holder in the basement that has a wedge-it-between-the-springy-ends design that only works with the previous width. Who is the narrow-minded idiot who decided to reduce the roll width?

      Problem is, I can't figure out where the hidden screws are in the old holder so I can remove and replace it. So, how's a guy supposed to pinch a roll before pinching a loaf? The whole things a pain in the ass...

    3. Re:Old school paper ... by astrojetsonjr · · Score: 1

      Bound paper engineering books with numbered pages FTW!

      I have stacks back to the 80's when I started using them. I put everything in them.

      I got deposed in someone else's battle. Went in, got the "and where were you the night of June 2?" "No clue, but let me look in my book". Opened it up and read him the entry. I keep good notes, I even keep who was there in seating order (clockwise from me, I'm last in the list, people that show up late are listed after me). The defendants lawyer was very unhappy. Since it was bound, with numbers, and in date order (no missing pages, no back insertions) they borrowed it to make copies. The battle got settled the next week.

      But to answer the OP's question, I use a wiki to keep track of system changes and stuff like that. Nice thing is that you can let others have RO access so they can see some of the items. I use a custom version of JSPWiki that has inter and intra page level security so I can control what is public. Highly recommended.

      I also use tiddlywiki (http://tiddlywiki.com/) as a local file version, mostly for active todo/call items.

    4. Re:Old school paper ... by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Problem is, I can't figure out where the hidden screws are in the old holder so I can remove and replace it.

      Either find a different brand of paper, or unleash the tools of destruction.

      A good pair of vice grips, hammer, crowbar, sawzall, and power drill with some hole saws and strong bits for metal drilling can unmount just about anything..

      As in, most likely.... pound a wedge in behind the thing and cut the screws off.

    5. Re:Old school paper ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yup; my Stack goes back to 1978.
      Boorum & Pease Quad Ruled Laboratory Notebooks. (All the best Nobel Prizewinners use them.)
      Al Ghiorso died in 2010, but from when he started working for Seaborg, to the day that he died, he kept a Log.
      For some seventy years.
      Open up any volume of his at random, and you get a glimpse of Genius. Al always kept the current Logbook handy; he used to say that if he came across a particularly knotty problem, he would write it out in as much detail as possible, and go to sleep, and when he awoke he would write out the solution. And _then_ he would wake up.
      I learned a lot from Al, and Al learned from Glenn.

      I like the Quad Ruling for ease in writing equations, drawing schematics, drafting, and general doodling. I use Standard Log keeping practices:
      The B&P pages are numbered; _Never_ remove a page. It just looks like you have something to hide.
      Use a Pen for writing text. Don't erase, cross out and then date and initial.
      For Schematics, use colored pencils. Draft out in black pencil. Use red pencil to "Erase" and green pencil to change or correct; use pen to annotate, date, and initial.
      At some point, a Schematic is "Fixed", so copy it all out on a later page in pen.
      (This is critical for Patent reasons.)
      Printouts and pix can be taped in, but be aware that they may eventually fall out...
      A long time ago, I bought a very expensive Epson Flatbed Scanner. SCSI; it worked with a Mac II. Al tried it out- he placed one of his Logbook's doodlings on the Scanner, and a couple of minutes later, he had this monster ~1MB file.
      We printed it out, and Al looked at it, taped it into the Logbook, and looked at the Scanner, and all the other Hardware, and asked "Why can't a Printer do this? Why can't I just place a Printer on the page there, and have it print directly out?"
      That was, and is, an _excellent_ question.

      There is no Digital equivalent to a good Boorum & Pease. Even if your handwriting is as rubbish as mine.
      That doesn't mean that there can't be.

      I'm working on one. Actually, I'm working on a broader application that would work just fine as a Digital Boorum & Pease.
      Key features are:
      All entries are automagically and uniquely dated, from an outside Unique Time Source, preferably kept in Boulder, Colorado, for a somewhat obvious reason.
      No entry can be erased, it can only be supplanted with a new entry that links to the previous one, and any newer applicable entries.
      The Software simply doesn't care what is entered, it just keeps track. One can insert text, a CAD drawing, a Spreadsheet... all from different software.
      A Timeline is generated. You may never look at it, but it is still there.
      The concepts of Checkpoints and State Saves are brought back.
      Collaboration is possible between different users. How this is possible, I'm not prepared to say, but it is actually the Central concept.
      Since a lot of this was made possible because of previous DOE Funding, the Software will be Free and Open. However, I _have_ Trademarked a few terms...

    6. Re:Old school paper ... by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      They have been reducing the size of many things for the past decade or so instead of raising the price so your toilet paper is narrower, the block of cheese is 400g instead of 450g, they leave out 7mL out of every small bottle of cola, chocolate bars are smaller, etc. People would notice and complain if the prices went up but not many people notice when the size is reduced.

    7. Re:Old school paper ... by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 1

      If it's an old "Everlast" type metal holder, it very likely has a bracket screwed to the wall behind it that the holder slides onto. To remove the holder, you should lift it straight up the wall and that will unclip it from the bracket.

      --
      If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
    8. Re:Old school paper ... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Link or any additional information about the software? Beta? Alpha?

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    9. Re:Old school paper ... by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the suggestions. Based on the inspiration I received here, I ended up man-handling it until it pulled out of the wall. Turns out it was only anchored into sheetrock with those expanding plastic thingies, so it wasn't that hard to just pull out. In retrospect, I should have tried that years ago, but I was looking for the subtle approach.

    10. Re:Old school paper ... by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Coincidentally, I recently compared a white Three Musketeers bar that I had stashed in about 1987 to its modern silver equivalent, and the new one was both subjectively smaller to the eye, and also objectively smaller by about 20% in terms of the grams listed on the two packages.

    11. Re:Old school paper ... by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the suggestions! That idea seemed very promising, so I tried it but that didn't work. I even used a hammer on it. However, eventually the whole thing pulled out from the wall. Turns out it was only anchored into sheetrock by those plastic expanding screw thingies.

      After I got it off, I was able to see that the proper way to do it would have been to remove the tiny set screws on the bottom of each arm. I had never previously seen those, being so tiny and on the bottom. Regardless, after many years of pondering this - while assuming the "Thinker" pose on the nearby throne, of course - I finally have the answer!

      I wasn't trying to actually obtain advise on this problem here, but I'm glad I got it.

    12. Re:Old school paper ... by smallfries · · Score: 1

      If you want to be super-hitech: do exactly the same. Take a photo of each page, upload it to a folder in gdrive, dropbox etc. Text conversion and search are overrated.

      --
      Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
  6. Emacs org mode by Stephan+Schulz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Emacs org mode can do notes perfectly, comes with selective archiving, and you can even schedule tasks and even record what time you spend on what. It's free form, exports to plenty of useful formats, the table mode is plain genius, and, of course, it's Emacs.

    --

    Stephan

    1. Re:Emacs org mode by krisbrowne42 · · Score: 1

      Even better, use Babel mode to execute tasks and capture the output for posterity, and add time-tracking in the entries to capture how long it took to set up tasks and run things.

    2. Re:Emacs org mode by hymie! · · Score: 1

      +1 to org-mode. I'm still getting used to it (not an emacs fan) but it has nice note-taking qualities (I like my notes in a bulletted outline), some basic calendaring for logs and scheduled events, and other cool features that I haven't even begun to explore.

    3. Re:Emacs org mode by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      Bah, my paper notebooks have native support for drawings, bullet lists, any font I choose, arbitrary orientation of text, footnotes, annotations, and all sorts of things. ;-)

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:Emacs org mode by hymie! · · Score: 1

      Do your paper notebooks support searching for keywords inside the articles?

    5. Re:Emacs org mode by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      LOL ... searching, sure .. it's, uh, natively supported, but a little slow, and there aren't any APIs. ;-)

      If I know approximately when something happened, I can usually find it fairly quickly.

      I've known a lot of people who spend a lot of time trying to keep their digital version working, or upgrading it, or whatever. It can degrade into technology fetishism, and it becomes all about having a tool to do it. People can spent a lot of time getting their digital tools "just so", almost to the point they don't do the things they're keeping the notes for.

      I knew someone who spent countless hours organizing his stuff on his Palm Pilot back in the day. And didn't really spend a lot of time doing the actual tasks. He did, however, have the most awesomely organized collection of digital notes imaginable. Pity he never actually delivered on his tasks. It's like he wasted all sorts of time organizing his notes and not doing the tasks. Which defeated the purpose of the notes.

      I readily admit you can make backups and do all sorts of fancy things with digital versions, and that not everybody is going to fall into the trap of focusing on the tools.

      Me, I've been keeping paper notes for a very long time, it's my preferred long-term solution. And if I lose those notes in a fire, I know damned well there will be things I say "I have no idea".

      As long as you're not just doing digital note-keeping because it seems like a fun toy, run wild. But when you reach the point of spending more time fiddling with your notes than actually making use of them ... you've crossed the line to just wasting your damned time.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:Emacs org mode by JackL · · Score: 1

      No. And that is a very real drawback of a notebook. I've tinkered with computerized note taking applications for that reason but have never settled on one. There is something about putting pen to paper that forces me to think about what I am writing. And that is _usually_ enough of an assist so that if I do need to search for something that I know what project it was associated with, and roughly when that was, and where that was in which notebook, etc. But I am (kinda) old. YMMV.

      As an aside: I can't imagine how anyone learns anything through presentations alone. Power point in college would have killed me. I can still see my notes in my head from many of my chem classes 20+ years ago because I had so see the diagrams on the chalkboard, process them, and then write them down. Now get off my lawn.

    7. Re:Emacs org mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, but it is slow

    8. Re:Emacs org mode by DroolTwist · · Score: 1

      I couldn't agree more. There is something about writing your notes down that for me has a memory affect associated with it. I could take the same notes in a digital program, but when I do I just don't remember things like I do when writing them down. I still swear by notebooks at work, and have never had issues searching for anything I needed to look up.

    9. Re:Emacs org mode by helixcode123 · · Score: 1

      +2, and it has a nice table submode, and emitters for text, HTML, and PDF. If your boss asks what you've been doing this week, just C-c C-e and there's your report.

      --

      In a band? Use WheresTheGig for free.

    10. Re: Emacs org mode by manicb · · Score: 1

      Org-mode is the answer. Start with basic outlining features and build from there. If there's something you want to do: a) RTFM, there's a good chance it already exists, otherwise b) contact the mailing list. They're very helpful and feature requests are picked up quickly.

  7. Google Keep by Hydrian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    While Google Keep is cross platform, it isn't FLOSS but I still haven't found anything that matches it.

    Pros:
    Major cross Platform support: Windows (Chrome app), Mac (Chrome app), Linux (Chrome app), iOS, Android
    Offline note taking support
    Syncing across platforms
    Quick
    Multi media input types: Text, lists, audio, image/photo,
    Reminders
    Can be shared
    No services to manage

    Cons:
    Not FLOSS
    No public API
    May disappear because it is a good product :-/

    --
    No good deed goes unpunished.
    1. Re:Google Keep by sanf780 · · Score: 3, Insightful
      So far, Google Keep has not been abandoned yet. I am using Google Keep myself. However, I keep my notes short lived: money I owe, DVDs I lend or borrow, etc. I will not miss it much if it is gone, that is, when Google decides that such a great application with no advertising is not aligned with their goal of increasing revenue.

      Another non FLOSS service is Evernote. It is popular enough that some mobile applications use Evernote under the hood.

      Another non FLOSS is MS OneNote. Some of my colleagues use it for work, because it comes with MS SharePoint 2013.

    2. Re:Google Keep by NewWorldDan · · Score: 5, Informative

      I would similarly also suggest Microsoft's OneNote for all the same reasons. It's probably the best Microsoft product that you're not using. Since I operate in pretty much a straight up Microsoft environment, that's what I use. Keep and OneNote are both fantastic products.

    3. Re:Google Keep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not the current version as it FORCES your windows installation to use the global Microsoft login.

      No thanks. until they remove the requirement for a microsoft login, One Note is now a steaming pile of shit.

    4. Re:Google Keep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It only requires a connection to sync. You can easily set it up to work offline in the browser. And it works offline on Android out of the box.

      I haven't had any issues with it being slow.

    5. Re:Google Keep by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "I keep my notes short lived: money I owe .... I will not miss it much if it is gone,"

      I believe that.

    6. Re:Google Keep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you take off your idiot glasses, you'll notice there is an option to sign in to the app only and keep the user account a local one.

    7. Re:Google Keep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Why the FUCK do you have to "sign in" to an app? Again microsoft turning a good app into a complete pile of shit.

    8. Re:Google Keep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gmail. Write an e-mail to yourself, and keep it in "drafts". You can keep several emails to organize notes. Accessible from anywhere on anything that has a web browser.

    9. Re:Google Keep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every commercial app is like that:

      Pages? AppleID is requested.
      Acrobat? What's your Acrobat ID?

      Webpages are similar. Pinterest, Quora, and many others will give you the middle finger until you create an account or link it to your FB or Google ID.

      Just how the times go.

    10. Re:Google Keep by Imazalil · · Score: 2

      It helps a bit in determining which of all those notes floating in 'the clouds' are yours.

      I do like the idea of all notes by all people getting dumped onto a server and syncing back to everyone. Then having to come up with creative ways to find the ones that are yours.

      .

      A good few years ago, people deemed wireless syncing between desktops, phones, tablets, fridges, cars, the NSA, and everything in between a good thing. To accomplish such a thing, unsurprisingly, an account of some type is required.

    11. Re:Google Keep by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      OneNote is actually really good, and free as in beer. Most platforms are supported, except Linux maybe. It's my current choice.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    12. Re:Google Keep by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      First and foremost systems like this are about control, with security being a side effect. The software folks want to be able to alter the deal any time theysee fit, logins enable that.

      --
      Good-bye
    13. Re:Google Keep by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      If they don't keep Google Keep it would be a damn shame, from the name alone. About the same as Amazon Glacier melting your tapes.

    14. Re:Google Keep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Add a bigger drawback:
      Google gets your data

    15. Re:Google Keep by Bratch · · Score: 1

      Using OneNote at work, text notes and screen shots, with the ability to search text in the screen shot images. Organized into notebooks, sections, and pages. Great if you already use Office.

      --
      Beware of the Redittor who loans you a Sharpie.
    16. Re:Google Keep by kbrannen · · Score: 1

      I would second the use of OneNote. It is the standard by which I measure all other note taking apps, and IMO, none come close ... but it does depend on what you want in said app. :) I say that after having done a survey of about 40 products, all of which think they can be used for note taking. If you can get the 2010 version, I find it better than the 2013 version.

      OTOH, I can understand wanting an "open" tool for this. As much as I love OneNote, it's hard to use on Linux and I do feel the "lock in". There is a browser version of OneNote that can generally get the job done, but it's not as nice as the real app. I just bought Crossover Office, so we'll see how well I can get it running there.

      My most recent attempt for going open with note taking is a tool called Tagspaces. It will run on all major platforms and you can put whatever files into it that you want: text, html, pics, etc. Then you can add "tags" to it to mark what it's for. It has search. It can show the file with a native app, or for simple apps show it in the tool and allow you to edit it. Combine that with a syncing tool like Dropbox and I think it will be what I want, or it will be when the next version comes out I believe (I need 1 more feature to make the syncing better, but if you don't need to sync between multiple computers then you won't have my problem). If I can get Tagspaces whipped into shape, then I'll migrate from OneNote to this.

    17. Re:Google Keep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They already have all your data, they are just lapping us to be dicks at this point. ( I know someone will misunderstand so lapping as in someone passes you in a race, and then does it again to show off. )

    18. Re:Google Keep by SilentTristero · · Score: 1

      The android version has literally no Undo! I tried to switch (from Evernote and/or Android Lecture Notes) but the first time I wiped something out with no undo I had to switch back.

  8. The reasons don't matter by sjbe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This mindset is ridiculous. Why do you "feel a need to change" if it still works for you?

    Please point out where he said that it still works for him. Obviously he feels it is not meeting his needs (whatever they are) in some way. He doesn't have to justify changing software to any of us even if there is no objective reason.

    1. Re:The reasons don't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >He doesn't have to justify changing software to any of us even if there is no objective reason.

      He does if he wants a suggestion that better meets his needs. He didn't need to justify his decision until it became an Ask Slashdot.

    2. Re:The reasons don't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Uhh, did you RTFS?

      Amaya has its quirks but I really like it; unfortunately it's no longer being updated and I feel it's time to change.

      The only stated reason for him not using it anymore is that he feels he needs to change products because it is not being updated anymore. Nothing about it not meeting his needs, if anything the contrary is stated,

    3. Re:The reasons don't matter by fisted · · Score: 1

      Obviously he feels it is not meeting his needs

      Amaya has its quirks but I really like it

      Emphasis mine. Also note that it is present tense.

    4. Re:The reasons don't matter by leonstr · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, if I *do* have to justify it: the latest release from 2013 is for Windows, Mac and Linux. I can't get it to compile on recent Linux distros, it won't run on new Mac OS versions, there are features I have to avoid to workaround crashes on Windows. Features that I'd like will never be added and problems I encounter will never be fixed.

    5. Re:The reasons don't matter by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

      Yes, yes you're quite right. If the pathetic little questioner wants an answer to his question he will justify himself to us to whatever extent we feel we need. See, I'm a libertarian and it's all about the market. We have something he wants. He's going to do what we say in order to get us to give it to him. It's a simple market exchange and anyone who disagrees is a communist, a socialist, a totalitarian who wants to take away individual liberty!!!!

      Sig Heil Ayn Rand!!!

      Now. Questioner. DROP AND GIVE ME 20 .

    6. Re:The reasons don't matter by KGIII · · Score: 0

      You were using the application to make money. Did you ever contribute to the project in order to help keep it up and running with new features and updated code?

      Not that it matters, I'm just curious.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    7. Re:The reasons don't matter by davester666 · · Score: 1

      But it's open source, so just jump in, fix the bugs and add the features you want. That's how it is supposed to work.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    8. Re:The reasons don't matter by leonstr · · Score: 1

      I was active in terms of bug reports and mail list support. Unfortunately I found the code a bit beyond me, maybe there's still time to revisit this. If there was a way to support the project financially I would.

    9. Re:The reasons don't matter by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Hmm... That's better than some. Personally, I code like ass and am too lazy to report bugs. I donate money to a bunch of projects - usually if I find something particularly useful or useful to someone else and still just a small project. I have pushed code/sent pull requests. I have found and fixed a few bugs here and there. I do support, I'm KGIII on AskUbuntu for instance - just recently decided to help there as a bit of a pastime.

      I was mostly just curious. I'm not sure why it was flamebait but someone's panties were in knots. I've got karma to burn so no big deal to me. I doubt you'd have kept the project afloat. How about contacting the devs to see if they're still getting requests and forking it?

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    10. Re:The reasons don't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where's your sourcecode or a program you've done others say is good fisted? Non-existence is where it is. It just isn't!

  9. A pen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Get a notepad of graph paper, and a pen.

  10. Spiceworks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Spiceworks gives you helpdesk functionality, inventory, network scanning, purchase tracking, etc... When you are working on something, create a ticket. Log your notes in your ticket. CC your co-workers on notes that are pertinent to their role. You can even "relate" the ticket to the device you are working on so someday in the future you can quickly pull up all tickets associated with that device.

    It's free as in cost, and simple to setup. The only drawback is that you need a Windows box to run it on if you previously ran Amaya on a Linux server.

    www.spiceworks.com

    1. Re: Spiceworks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And they use a OSS Database SQLite, with a pretty simple schema if you ever want out.

  11. Here's what I use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Notepad, with the first line like this .LOG

    That's right, dot log then it time stamps the file every time you open it. What more do you need?

    1. Re:Here's what I use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Noy a saint of my devotion, but if you press F5, it timestamps again.

  12. Local notes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I like TiddlyWiki, it's like a small wiki. I save a file locally and just double-click to create a new note.

  13. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  14. Pen + Paper or Notes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Hand-writing your notes increases memory, so a good fountain pen (less pressure on the wrist muscles) and a suitable notepad should do. If you must keep your notes digitally, I get something that syncs up with your mail server, e.g., Notes for Mac OS X.

    You could bridge your digital and analogue experiences with a tool like LifeScribe (http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/). This may be an overkill for simple tasks, but it does wonders in meetings when you have to remember.

    1. Re:Pen + Paper or Notes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hand-writing your notes increases memory, so a good fountain pen (less pressure on the wrist muscles) and a suitable notepad should do. If you must keep your notes digitally, I get something that syncs up with your mail server, e.g., Notes for Mac OS X.

      You could bridge your digital and analogue experiences with a tool like LifeScribe (http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/). This may be an overkill for simple tasks, but it does wonders in meetings when you have to remember.

      Until LifeScribe designs a digital pen that has the same form-factor as a traditional ink pen I find their product too bulky and awkward. Not to mention the terrible ink cartridges.

    2. Re:Pen + Paper or Notes by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

      Seconded, regarding the Livescribe. A friend of mine had one of these. It worked very well, and he could make "electronic" notes and drawings faster than anyone else in a meeting. I've been thinking of getting one myself.

    3. Re:Pen + Paper or Notes by gessel · · Score: 1

      I use a livescribe pretty regularly: I have one in my pocket right now. While I agree the form factor of the pens is suboptimal, as are the cartridges, it does the job for me. I've only lost one so far to overzealous inspection at an airport as a spy device because it has audio recording capability. In theory that one might come back, but the office it is stored in is only open a few hours a day, a few days a week at the airport and the release documents have two names on them and... long story.

      Anyway, while I appreciate the OP's interest in a fully digital format and read through hoping to find something super cool I hadn't run across yet, the drift in the conversation to pre-digital technologies mirrors my own adoption of the livescribe pen. The books you fill out don't crash and are immediately re-viewable and sunlight readable. The pens are robust and while the cartridges run out of ink far too quickly and without any real warning, it isn't a meaningful cost burden to keep a few spares around.

      The form factor of the pen and small note book is time-proven and convenient if you're moving around. It is unobtrusive in meetings, works well in the field, and you can easily have a hand or two free without catastrophic gravitational consequences.

      Having a digital copy of my notes is organizationally helpful, even if my writing is not sufficiently legible for useful distribution. The accurate time stamps let me do things like post-correlate a digital picture with the notes unambiguously or a GPS coordinate or any other time stamped media. Occasionally I use the audio recording capability to integrate time-stamped conversational notes when I don't have time to write them all down, just noting a word or two here and there as I can to provide a visual/temporal reference in the converted media.

      I am most pleased with myself when I can make a quick sketch on paper and email it out in a few seconds. I have occasionally considered a pen-enhanced phablet as an increasing drift toward virtualization, but that would lose the archival paper copy, the tangible organization of the pages and books, and would be far more fragile and prone to being out of juice when I need it. The pen wakes up in about 3 seconds and even if I haven't charged it in a month, is ready to work - and if the battery is dead, I still take perfectly usable notes I can later digitize by writing over them if I really need to.

      For me it solves a few requirements:


      • * Archival (fairly, the notebooks aren't acid free or anything),
        * Reliable (works even if the battery is dead, though the small cartridges undermine this a bit,)
        * Durable (my pen has been in some atypically demanding environments like direct sunlight in measured ambient temperatures of 57C and kept working fine even when digital camera and phone couldn't take pictures because they were too hot,)
        * Time stamped entries,
        * Digital distribution/record keeping is painless,
        * Handles sketches well,
        * Can correlate to other digital media via time stamp metadata fairly automatically,
        * Fully cloudless local operation so you don't have to trust a company full of people you've never met.

      But....


      • * I don't use the handwriting recognition tool. It is kind of cool, but not accurate enough with my crappy writing to be worth the cost,
        * I would prefer a more pen-like pen,
        * I wish the notebook software could recognize some simple glyphs so certain notes could be automatically extracted or highlighted (I'm thinking "to do" and "important" etc marks),
        * It'd be awesome if it took standard Fisher cartridges.
    4. Re:Pen + Paper or Notes by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

      I've only lost one so far to overzealous inspection at an airport as a spy device because it has audio recording capability.

      In what country was it confiscated, if you don't mind saying?

  15. TiddlyWiki by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm using TiddlyWiki (http://tiddlywiki.com/) to keep a log of my in-site Freelancer job while taking notes on procedures, knowhows and recurrent chunks of text while having a really useful Journal editor and tags to sort them all.
    Its proper use is an iterative process, since the job priorities change daily and the level of information I need (from micro to macro vision) also shifts, so TiddlyWiki is a wonderful tool to use, since, just by applying common sense, the tags structure can be used in unforseen useful ways.
    I had reservations regarding the last version (I still miss the double-click edit), but now I feel more confortable with the new version rather than the classic one.

    1. Re:TiddlyWiki by MountainLogic · · Score: 1

      I used TiddlyWiki with the GTD/GSD/MonkeyGTD as a PM on and off for years. As a local organizing tool it has a lot to recommend it. When coupled with an auto back up tool such as dropbox, etc. it can be very helpful. I would also like to see a sister "lab notebook" plug in to make it more useful than a pure GTD system. The problem with GTD for engineers is that by design it tries to be nearly stateless and to forget everything you have done.

    2. Re:Tiddlywiki by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right, I've been using it for years. Builtin search, side bar lists by edit date, cross referencing, markup formatting.

  16. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  17. Dokuwiki by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Use Dokuwiki

  18. Notebook and Pen? by MerlynEmrys67 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Note: This solution has been available for many years and will be available for many more years without any changes. Also - there are some benefits where pen and paper (With date) is considered reliable in court - computer notes may not be because of the lack of dating and change control.

    --
    I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
    1. Re:Notebook and Pen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can buy Composition Notebooks by the gross, those are very popular around here. Plus they offer the integrity of not being able to remove pages if that's your cup of tea.

      If you want something more customizable, there's some like the Arc system from Staples. This is a bit nicer than your generic 3 ring binder, and you can easily move pages around and add dividers and do all sort of other OCD stuff with it, so it's nice as a work book, and also for more permanent storage.

    2. Re:Notebook and Pen? by coldmist · · Score: 2

      It can be hard to search 10+ years of notes, to find some mention of a project or system name. If my work gave me a laptop, I'd definitely be looking for something other than pen + paper.

      --
      Don't steal. The government hates competition.
    3. Re:Notebook and Pen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't grep dead trees.

    4. Re:Notebook and Pen? by grebke · · Score: 1

      I use composition notebooks. They work fine for most of my work. I can paste in computer generated details when I need to. In addition, I create a text file to help me find something in 28 notebooks I have written at my current job. The text file, one for each notebook, has a possibly long line for each page in the notebook. It starts with the page number and lists some details that relate to the page. I use emacs grep to locate the notebook # and page # containing matching details. Now, I hear you say, "You haul your 28 notebooks with you?" I use my scanner at home to convert the pages of my notebooks to JPG files, and use FastStone Image Viewer to look at them. Each set of images it in its own directory, named for the notebook number. I have the same JPG and TXT files at home and at work. The main theme is to use formats that will be usable for the foreseeable future: JPG and TXT files.

    5. Re:Notebook and Pen? by leonstr · · Score: 1

      Quite! And I don't have to rely on my writing being legible. A digital log I can search, back up, and copy text and images into and out of.

    6. Re:Notebook and Pen? by nine-times · · Score: 1

      As some people have pointed out, pen and paper isn't searchable unless you're very good at staying organized and filing things. Also, it's somewhat difficult to backup and archive unless you scan everything. Plus, it can end up taking up a bunch of space. It's also harder to share, if you want to share your notes for some reason.

      I'm not really opposed to it. I keep notebooks. But for anything important, I usually end up transcribing it into some kind of digital form. If you're worried about your notes being legally admissible, then you can include the digital notes in some kind of tamper-proof archiving solution-- e.g. email it through a system that has email archiving for compliance. It costs money, but I feel like generally, if you're in a situation where you're worried about your documents being admissible, then it probably warrants spending a little money.

      To give my answer to OP's question, I don't feel like I need a specialized note-taking system. I use whatever document type is appropriate for the content. If I'm need to write out a bunch of text, I use a word processor. If I want something in a table that I can sort and process, I use whatever my preferred spreadsheet program is. Right now I use Google Apps, but it shouldn't really matter. If you want FOSS, maybe use LibreOffice?

    7. Re:Notebook and Pen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't grep dead trees.

      That's what interns are for!

    8. Re:Notebook and Pen? by speedplane · · Score: 1

      You can buy Composition Notebooks by the gross, those are very popular around here. Plus they offer the integrity of not being able to remove pages if that's your cup of tea.

      I heard they're incompatible with the upcoming version of Windows.

      --
      Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates
  19. As a general rule I don't make logs, but... by istartedi · · Score: 4, Informative

    Back when I was in support I used to open up Notepad and put .LOG on the first line. When you do that, every time you open Notepad it puts the time and date on a line for you. It was quick and easy to do that while on the phone. I'd use this to make notes regarding things that didn't really belong in the customer log, or for semi-personal work related research kinds of things. I always figured that if it mattered to me or anybody, I could hack up a quick script to parse it into some other format. It never mattered.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:As a general rule I don't make logs, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is very cool, I never knew about the .LOG feature

    2. Re:As a general rule I don't make logs, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      These days, you just hit F5 to insert Time/Date in Notepad

    3. Re:As a general rule I don't make logs, but... by talcon · · Score: 1

      This is the system I use.. Don't even have to think about it.

    4. Re:As a general rule I don't make logs, but... by istartedi · · Score: 1

      That would work, but the muscle memory for opening the file, making an entry, and closing the file is IMHO more fool-proof. Bear in mind, I had a customer in my ear and problems to solve while doing this.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  20. Postit's by hinchles · · Score: 1

    Yellow sticky death all over my monitor/walls/doors etc + a ticketing system which I should really use to do things properly but 20 years of postit notes has kinda stuck.

  21. elog without a doubt! by bferrell · · Score: 2

    I'm old school the way you are...

    Site logs are a terrific means of communicating and they've saved my butt many times. I've used elog very, very successfully:

    https://midas.psi.ch/elog/

    1. Re:elog without a doubt! by dargaud · · Score: 1

      I second this. I've installed it for all the scientists I've worked for and they love it. Very configurable (write only, write only with small change delay, etc)

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
  22. treesheets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Works for me. Awesome program, it's basically a marriage of a mind map and a spreadsheet with infinite depth.

  23. iPad PRO by trevc · · Score: 1

    With keyboard and pen

  24. I logged stuff for years using Emacs + files by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I kept a log for many years using Emacs + text files in a format easy to look through with dired, and easy to grep if necessary. Occasionally, I could find some old command or something I used, but after several years I realized I was keeping mostly write-only notes I never went back to, and stopped. But if you want to do it, there's nothing really better than a text editor because you can paste in commands and other things verbatim. Eventually, if you use something enough, you can script it.

  25. Same question ... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Nothing to add after the first two posts.
    They nailed it.

    However I have a similar question. I'm looking for an eInk device with a touch screen, that allows pen input.

    Not pen input as in handwriting, but hitting the keys of the 'virtual keyboard' with a pen (or the rubber side of an actual pencil).

    File format as text would be sufficient. RTF would be a bonus but not necessary.

    Any ideas? (I own a Nook and two Kobos, but they lack such text processing software, I already came to the bollocks idea to make me an eBook with a few thousand pages with just one word per page and abuse the 'note taking' feature of most readers, would work fine on an iPad, did not test it on my Kobo ... where is it when you need it?)

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    1. Re:Same question ... by unrtst · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure about other eink devices, but the Kindle has support for "Active Content". One of those that I have installed is "Notepad":
      http://www.amazon.com/Notepad/...

      There's lots of alternatives too, and a bunch of other "apps" (ex. there's an official Scrabble app for the kindle). Unfortunately, I haven't found a good way to find them. If you go to the above link though, there's the "Customers who bought this item also bought" section that contains others, and I'm sure there's some way to find more on their site. Some other examples:
      AccuWeather: http://www.amazon.com/AccuWeat...
      Calculator: http://www.amazon.com/Calculat...
      TakeNote: http://www.amazon.com/TakeNote...
      Calendar: http://www.amazon.com/Calendar...
      Notepad Plus: http://www.amazon.com/Notepad-...

      I did find one way to find more just now... go to amazon, change department to Kindle eBooks, then search in that department for "active content".

    2. Re:Same question ... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Nice. Perhaps I check a kindle once, was not really interested into them so far.
      Thank you!

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  26. Zim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Zim from http://zim-wiki.org/.
    Zim is a graphical text editor used to maintain a collection of wiki pages. Runs on Linux, MS Windows and Free/OpenBSD.

    I use it with ownCloud (used to use Dropbox) to use it from several geographical locations and keep the wiki pages synchronized. I also use triple #s to begin my comments in config files (and double #s for the original config info) if I include documentation there, making it easier for any admin to grep for any and all changes I have made and then compare it to what the default was. Then just copy and paste all the info into my Zim wiki for the log.

    When you change things, you can never have too much documentation for why you did it.

  27. Desktop Wiki: Zim by xororand · · Score: 1

    If you're working with GNU/Linux, consider Zim, the desktop wiki.

    Some points for Zim:

    • Zim stores your notes in plain text with only light markup so you can also edit them with your favorite plain text editor.
    • Built-in support for version control systems, including git
    • Equations and Plots with LaTeX and Gnuplot
    • Supports multiple wikis
    1. Re:Desktop Wiki: Zim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had very similar dilemma some time and I choose zim. It was a very good choice, I totally love it and recommend. Because it stores everything in plain text, you can easily integrate it with anything you want.

    2. Re:Desktop Wiki: Zim by axtens · · Score: 1

      Works well in Windows too.

      --
      What, Bruce, excited??!
    3. Re:Desktop Wiki: Zim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ZIM is great. Very flexible and, as it's a wiki, you can link within your notebook files or to other forms of information stored on your computer and beyond. I have a Thunderbird extension which generates a link to a specific email. I copy the link into ZIM, write other text notes around it, links to websites, graphics files (scans of paper diagrams, notes for instance), spreadsheets etc. I can easily generate a dated page so everything is diarised or make a hierarchical page structure for projects. Searches and in-page tags can be used to find the information you need.

      Version control can be achieved by GIT (although as a stand-alone user I have never used this). Task lists can be used to implement a "Getting Things Done" system.

      ZIM is being actively developed and has an enthusiastic user base who can develop Python extensions which can be incorporated into the core product (I have been looking at developing an SMS messaging interface so I can send notes to ZIM when I'm out and about).

  28. If text is enough... by hubertf · · Score: 1

    ... then just use a simple text file. Come up with your own scheme for title, date and time and it will work.
    Either as single file with search, or with multiple files and grep(1).

    The only really working alternative that I've found are:
      * a paper notebook. easily available when you have only one hand free because you're on the phone, and don't want to unlock an electronic device
      * sending yourself notes via email, and use your favourite email client for management.

    If I'd want to live in a Microsoft world, I'd probably use OneNote.
    YMMV, I'm curious about other options mentioned here.

      - Hubert

    1. Re:If text is enough... by Crispy+Critters · · Score: 1

      ... then just use a simple text file. Come up with your own scheme for title, date and time and it will work. Either as single file with search, or with multiple files and grep(1).

      And please make things easier on yourself by setting up commands to automate your own chosen format. I have simple commands for opening a file with today's date in the name, inserting date and time into the text of the file, generating numbered lines, and so on.

      Autogenerating dates and times is particularly valuable in avoiding extremely costly mistakes.

      (For me, this is aliasing "mylog" to something like emacs ~/Notes/`date +"%Y%m%d"`.txt)

  29. Trello by Kremit · · Score: 1

    Check out Trello (https://trello.com). Not FLOSS, but a free cloud-based note-taking, project managing, checklist-managing, attachment storage, team-usable swiss army knife. No clue how this thing is still free (shhhh). I use it for just about everything you mentioned. It supports taking notes (called "cards") in Markdown format, sharing individual notes or entire "boards" with others, organizing and labeling notes, and attaching files. About the only thing it's missing is a drawing/sketching tool and better notification alarm options. If I need to refer to something scanned, written, or otherwise graphics, you can attach unlimited files to each card or paste links in your notes. The mobile apps are identical to the web-app version, so you can take it with you to meetings on a tablet/laptop, and then come back to a workstation and see all of the updates on the web version.

  30. Ever thought of a wiki? by adosch · · Score: 1

    Many years ago, I started taking all my 'text-editor-alike' notes, setup up a wiki (dokuwiki plug, but there's definitely others like Mediawiki, ect.) and added a bit of light wiki markup to them equaled instant, half-ass-looking pro-like documentation with an authentication/group control wrapper around it (e.g. local accounts or AD/LDAP tie-in).

    I don't know what organization you are in or what you can/cannot setup on a whim --- but that's what I'd do. It's SUPER cool to hear you actually care about documentation and daily note taking, ect., but the step beyond IMHO is a searchable and share-able interface to it.

    And even taking documentation with you is a cinch --- I just recently changed jobs and I was able to take 8+ years worth of documentation/notes/you-name-it that wasn't company specific or had a NDA attached to it, tarball it up, set up a new wiki, unpack it and I was done.

    At most if you really hate the wiki, just write a few reg-ex commands to mostly strip off your markup business and you're left with what you've started: ASCII text files again.

    1. Re:Ever thought of a wiki? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. I use Odd Muse wiki. It works without a database so it's very easy to backup or move.

  31. Paper notes and email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I still take notes on paper. Why? Because anything important in those notes will be in some form of office communication a few hours or days after I've written it down. If it's a reminder to do something it goes into my phone as a reminder or to-do item, or as a calendar item. Because I have to keep in contact with colleagues and supervisors electronically, I have a searchable medium to find old project info, contacts, calendar items, reminders, etc. It's worked very well for me for more than 20 years. Of course, I also keep files of my paper notes for stalled or dormant projects. I don't pack rat every scrap, but do keep important things. Other than that, it's somewhere I can search and find in no more than a couple hours if I have to dig up backups.

  32. Zim Desktop wiki by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Zim Desktop wiki is a multiplatform personal wiki. It has a built-in Journal feature that creates a page for each day, as needed - when you access a day in a calendar it creates the page for that day and you can write in it. Searching works within pages. I'm using it for at least 3 years now and I can not live without it.

    1. Re:Zim Desktop Wiki by rnstech · · Score: 1

      I use Zim for just this purpose.

      http://zim-wiki.org/

  33. Microsoft OneNote? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Works well for me

  34. keepnote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I use keepnote, I like it

  35. If you must change, switch to markdown. by Qbertino · · Score: 1

    If it works for you, why change?

    But if you must change, I recommend using Markdown. Tons of FOSS editors out there, and it's actually simpler than HTML. And also, in a pinch, readable and editable in simple text format.

    Glad I could help.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
  36. I wrote one by Murdoch5 · · Score: 1

    In college I found i was unable to keep a standard notebook because I never found myself opening it to actually write anything. I looked online for a solution but there was nothing that really fulfilled the logging need. I ended up writing one that was a multiple platform system, which every X amount time, configurable in a web interface, a windows written in C with GTK would open on the desktop or phone, requiring you to enter a message so it could log it back to the server. the system used multi stage encryption and had a web portal where you could view, but not edit, all the messages. It had user accounts and pretty much everything you'd need to keep a rocking lab book.

    1. Re:I wrote one by michael_cain · · Score: 1

      Some years back I ended up writing my own as well. I was looking for a handful of special features. The most important one is that while I could go back and annotate earlier text, I couldn't modify it (an overstatement, but I can't modify it from within the tool). That was important to me for a "lab" notebook: what was I thinking when I wrote this two months ago, and what do I think is different now. I also needed to be able to paste in pictures, and wanted to be able to draw circles and arrows and text over and around them. Perl and Tkx for implementing it -- at one point at least I had versions for all of Mac, Linux, and Windows.

  37. Tiddlywiki by PvtVoid · · Score: 1

    http://tiddlywiki.com/

    I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it yet.

  38. RedNotebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I use RedNotebook

    http://rednotebook.sourceforge.net

    It has a nice graphical user interface, simple markup, supports tags, and stores the logs in text files.

  39. A couple of options...e-mail or Keynote-NF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have a similar situation, I looked at many options but I have several restrictions (but not being FLOSS...)
    - My information may be used for patent purposes, so therefore, reliable timestamps are crucial
    - Due to volume of information, must be easily and reliably searchable.
    - For confidentiality reasons, can NOT rely on online/public service (e.g. Evernote)

    Some options:
    [1] Keynote-NF (https://github.com/dpradov/keynote-nf) : My only complaint about this is related to keeping time/date stamps. I can write a macro to insert date/time stamp, but will they hold up in court? Not sure.
    [2] Microsoft OneNote : It is actually pretty close to everything I would want, except... not FLOSS, only on Windows and the date/time stamp issue again.
    [3] e-mail yourself! Especially many e-mail applications now support HTML or RTF format e-mail, tagging, searching, automatically filing into folders, searchable, etc. It can be FLOSS, e-mail records tend to stand up in court nowadays.
    [4] Lotus Notes : using the Journal database/application. Not FLOSS, but that's about it. Can be used on Windows, Linux or Mac I believe. It can require secure login to access if you've got it set up correctly. It's as easy to use as any word-processor, it can be set to log changes to the database. All sorts of info about any journal entry are kept, including create, mod, read, who read or modified it, etc. and it may actually have a chance at holding up in court. Just to be sure, I keep it on a drive which sees daily backups. As a bonus, it is capable of indexing even attached files (depends on format) for searches.

    I selected [4], but if you're not up for grabbing a Notes license (mine came with the computer and at work as well), I would probably go with [1] or [3].

  40. MS Word by crath · · Score: 1

    I've used MS Word for my log book for many years. I use the classic MS Word file format, not the newer XML-like format; since many programmes on every computing platform that's ever existed are able to open and read the classic MS Word file format. In addition, MS published the file format and so it's well understood and newer editors will always be able to create an import filter for MS Word files.

  41. Liking something != meeting needs by sjbe · · Score: 3, Informative

    Emphasis mine. Also note that it is present tense.

    Emphasize away. Something can work and you can like it and it still doesn't meet your needs. For example I like GIMP and it works fine but I have photo editing needs that it simply cannot handle so I have to use Photoshop instead. I like plenty of tools that I no longer use for one reason or another. Might be lacking needed/desired features. Might be a security problem. Might be incompatible with a particular operating system. Etc.

  42. No justification needed by sjbe · · Score: 1

    He does if he wants a suggestion that better meets his needs. He didn't need to justify his decision until it became an Ask Slashdot.

    The reason why he wants to change doesn't matter. What matters is what his needs are going forward. All he needs to do is to outline what his projected use case is. Help or don't but your opinion about his reasons for switching are irrelevant.

  43. I use a Tiddlywiki over sshfs-mounted directory.. by JacobA.Munoz · · Score: 1

    Tiddlywiki is a stand-alone HTML5 app that stores all the 'pages' (or 'tiddlers' as they are called) in one file. It's clean, super easy to use, simple to backup (just copy one file), has simple search capability, custom 'tiddler' metadata fields, transclusion of pages within pages, and can be customized with just HTML and JavaScript, There's a Firefox extension called "TiddlyFox" that automatically saves the changes back to the file when you make edits. I use an SSH (RSA key, not password) protected server and mount the remote folder with sshfs using a custom shell script to check if I'm connected to the server (if not, it establishes a connection) then it opens the tiddlywiki .html file from the remote mounted filesystem in Firefox. You can also export/import JSON, HTML, and a few other 'wiki' data formats. You can also carry it around on any device (phone, tablet, etc) if you need a portable off-line copy. It works on all platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) because it's just a plain old web page - no special software is needed.

  44. Huh huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Huh huh. He's taking a log. Heh heh.

  45. OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) by swell · · Score: 1

    from Wikipedia
    "OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) is an XML format for outlines (defined as "a tree, where each node contains a set of named attributes with string values" . . .
    "The OPML specification defines an outline as a hierarchical, ordered list of arbitrary elements. The specification is fairly open which makes it suitable for many types of list data."

    I use two outliner programs: OmniOutliner and Notebook for Mac (proprietary). I've used outliners since the original More program from back in the dark ages (and still have notes from there and from my Psion 3a). The important thing about OPML is that when your software is no longer supported, you can move your data to another compatible platform.

    Surely there is an open outliner using OPML. If not, this is a great opportunity for some developer.

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
  46. Don't give them any ideas by mpercy · · Score: 1

    You joke now, but I'm sure this "feature" is in the works.

  47. TreeLine by ChoGGi · · Score: 1

    I've been using it a few years now
    The last release was the 3rd of this month
    http://treeline.bellz.org/

    What is TreeLine?
    Do you have lots of sticky notes lying around with various useful information jotted down? Or many lists of books, movies, website logins, personal contacts, or things to do? Can you find them when you need them? Well, I often couldn't. So here's my answer.

    Some would call TreeLine an Outliner, others would call it a PIM. Basically, it just stores almost any kind of information. A tree structure makes it easy to keep things organized. And each node in the tree can contain several fields, forming a mini-database. The output format for each node can be defined, and the output can be shown on the screen, printed, or exported to html.

    1. Re:TreeLine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have been using the below:

      Zim
      http://zim-wiki.org/

      Treepad
      http://www.treepad.com/

  48. LaTeX by BetterSense · · Score: 1

    I use LaTeX reports on a webserver instead of a paper lab notebook. One, I can't lose it. Two, paper is filthy and I work in a cleanroom. In the lab I am never far from a computer with putty or RDP.
    Plaintext means I can grep years worth of reports to query what is effectively my cyborg memory. I use hyperref to create pdf hyperlinks, images are no problem. Provenance concerns are handled by my build script which commits everything to a git repository multiple times per day. If I want to scribble stuff without publishing it I just comment it out. The documents are available on the webserver for anyone to see.

  49. Open v proprietary [Re:Google Keep] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm doing all note-keeping either on paper or as plain text files.

    Much discussions and many flame wars have centered around open v. non-open _software_, but I would argue it is much more important
    to use an open _data format_, since data typically outlives the software that processes it (and plain text is the most compatible, interoperable,
    durable format ever, full stop).

    I'm using UTF-8 UNICODE but most files are ASCII since there is no need to use that many non-ASCII characters anyhow; if you can't say it
    in plain English without special characters, you should stay silent, to paraphrase Wittgenstein.

    The best Editors so far have been XEmacs (FOSS), Sublime (cheap; single license payment for all platforms), and Atom (free/FOSS).
    Atom and Sublime are actually very similar re: look & feel, and (X)Emacs, well enough has been said about it, I suppose.

    If you're taking meeting notes, make sure to list who attended the meeting, who was excused and who was absent without sending excuses, who took the
    minutes. Begin your notes with the list of agenda items followed by the minutes proper, and finish it off with action items. Each action item should have exactly one primary owner (e.g. "* Arrange meeting w/ Al, Bob, Chris, Dan and Ed -> Ed" i.e. Ed owns the task; he may delegate but he is responsible that it gets done).
    Send out the minutes after the meeting and assume no objection means people sign off on it.

    -J

  50. Google Docs by shastamonk · · Score: 1

    I've been using Google Docs lately to share my notes with other people. They can add comments on specific items that show up on the side of the document, and you can respond or resolve the comment to hide it.

    Of course this is Google, so there's always the chance they retire it, though I think Docs and Sheets are likely to stick around as long as Office does.

  51. Notecase Pro by softcoder · · Score: 1

    I know that you asked for Open Source tools, but if others are going to propose Notepad and Microsoft products, let me mention Notecase Pro.
    It comes in flavors for windows, Linux, and Mac. There are constant updates. There is a user community developing plugins. You can write in different fonts, with font colors and background colors. You can embed screenshots.
    It is a hierarchical note manager. The price is reasonable, you can get a single user (any number of computers) perpetual license, or pay more and get a multiuser license.
    It is not open source though.
    pgmer6809

  52. Does anyone else ever use this site? by CCarrot · · Score: 2

    Just wondering if anyone else uses the alternativeto.net site for questions like these? You can filter by platform and license type, 'vote' for applications you find particularly useful, suggest new alternatives...I don't know, I've found it useful in the past *shrugs*

    FYI, here's the open source alternatives listed for Amaya on the alternativeto site for all platforms (sorry about the trail-offs in some of the descriptions, but I'm not digging down that far):

    KompoZer
    This application has been discontinued. "The project seems to be discontinued. Latest stable version, 0.7.10, was released on 2007 and last development version, 0.8b3, on 2010, but the program is still downloadable from the official website."

    Bluefish Editor
    Open Source by Olivier Sessink, Daniel Leidert | Mac, Windows, Linux
    Bluefish is a powerful editor targeted towards programmers and webdesigners, with many options to write websites, scripts and programming code. Bluefish supports many programming and markup languages, and it...

    BlueGriffon
    Open Source | Mac, Windows, Linux
    An HTML editor based on Mozilla rendering engine. Supports some CSS3 features and since recently has a built-in SVG editor.

    NVU
    This application has been discontinued. "Development stopped in 2005"

    Quanta Plus
    This application has been discontinued. "The project stopped at version 3.5.10, released on June 2, 2009. It can be still downloaded from Slax.org"

    ACE (Ajax Code Editor)
    Open Source | Web / Cloud
    Focused and built towards coders, web designers, and web builders, ACE (Ajax Code Editor) can help users get familiar with how the coding is and it's basic structure. This web app is useful for those with...

    Openbexi
    Open Source by openbexi.com | Windows
    OpenBEXI is a WYSIWYG HTML builder using the magic of HTML5 and CSS3 . By resizing, dragging and dropping various HTML widgets it is easy to build a web page. All texts using the DOJO editor, pictures...

    --
    "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    1. Re:Does anyone else ever use this site? by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      While looking through the AlternativeTo site, saw something that sounds like it might fit your needs, depending on the specifics: Laverna

      AlternativeTo describes it as:

      Laverna is a web application written on JavaScript. It's built to be an open source alternative to Evernote.

      Laverna stores notes in indexedDB and personal settings in local storage.

      ## Features
      -----------
      * Markdown editor based on Pagedown
      * Manage your notes even if you're offline
      * Secure - client side encryption with SJCL and AES algotithm.
      * Synchronizing with cloud storages. At the time only with Dropbox.
      * Three editing modes: distraction free, preview and normal mode
      * WYSIWYG control buttons
      * Syntax highlighting
      * No registration required
      * Web based
      * Keybindings

      Note: never used it, never heard of it before, just throwing it out there.

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    2. Re:Does anyone else ever use this site? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are using Thunderbird as your email client take a look at the ZNotes 0.9.19 add in by Alexander Kapitman. This is probably one of the best add ins for Thunderbird. Features

      Notebooks
      Notes are stored in notebooks. User can register any number of notebooks.
      Each notebook has a hierarchy of categories and its own set of color tags.

      Hierarchical system of categories
      Notes are grouped into categories that form a hierarchical structure.
      In each category, user can create an unlimited number of sub-categories
      and any number of notes. Notes are easy to move from one category to
      another. Besides it is up to you to define the order of subcategories
      and notes within each category, and you can change it. All this is done
      in one mouse click.

      Multiple color tags
      Each note can be assigned any number of tags defined by name and color.
      Notes can be fetched by a specific tag. In addition to the hierarchical
      structure of categories this gives truly enormous possibilities of
      managing your notes.

      Attachments: files and contacts
      Any number of files can be attached to a note. The program does not save
      the file paths, but copies of the files in the note. In addition, you
      can attach any number of links to contacts from the address book.
      A single click allows viewing and editing the contact card.

      Importing and saving local copies of web pages
      When importing a web page the program saves your personal local copy
      of this page with all related resources, such as image files, styles
      and scripts.

      Editing of the source code
      Access to the note's source code can significantly extend the editing
      possibilities. After making changes to the source code simply switch to
      the View tab to see the results of the last changes in the source code.

      Viewing and editing in a separate tab
      Opening notes in the separate tabs allows to quickly switch between
      them and simplifies the work with information.

      Printing
      Users can print out not only the note, but also its source code.
      The print preview allows configuring various settings of the note's
      layout.

      Synchronizing and storing information in a cloud
      It is easy to use popular synchronization services such as Dropbox that
      allow storing your data in a cloud. Synchronization is performed
      instantly,

  53. Tomboy Notes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tomboy is .net-based and comes on openSUSE (where I have used it for all of my notes for many years). Not sure on its ongoing maintenance, but I see (good) changes from time to time, and the format is an easy-to-parse XML. Being .net-based, I presume it also works on lesser OS's.

  54. Markdown it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm using Remarkable - a markdown wysiwyg editor, and its doing great for me. Been half a year

  55. Jrnl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jrnl http://maebert.github.io/jrnl/ command line journal keeper with tags and stores in plain text, with option to encrypt using gpg.

  56. MarkDown and SimpleNote by Pascal+Sartoretti · · Score: 1
    I have similar needs and tried different solutions over the last 30 years (sigh); I suffered a lot everytime I changed jobs, and first thought that the reason was the closed-source software I used. But I finally understood that the critical issue was the format of the notes, and not the application I used to edit them.

    I finally settled for this :
    1. - Text only notes.
    2. - MarkDown format (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown).
    3. - Work PC : ResophNotes (http://www.resoph.com)
    4. - Home Mac : nvAlt (http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/)
    5. - iPhone : SimpleNote (http://simplenote.com/)
    6. - And all notes synchronized with SimpleNote
    7. Yes, it is not an open source solution (even if some parts may be open source); but I am not dependant on any company or its format. If SimpleNote goes bankrupt or starts behaving evil, I can switch to DropBox for file sync (or any other similar service).

      It is not as sexy as Evernote, but I am 100% sure that I will be able to access my notes in 20 years.

      BTW : I first typed this in MarkDown...

  57. CherryTree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.giuspen.com/cherrytree/

    * Available for Linux and Windows (written in Python, so Mac is probably also possible)
    * Uses zipped xml files (encryption possible)
    * Notes organized as a tree
    * Simple formatting
    * More or less active development

  58. tiddlywiki by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I started using http://tiddlywiki.com.

    Its basicly a local wiki with tagsm that I can post to the web if required.
    Some of plugins available are also very usefull.

    The capacity of making list based on tags is really usefull.

    Its a shame that the documentation to build more plugins its pretty bad and requires someone to look at the code of other plugins in order to do something.

  59. Keepnote by ndevnull · · Score: 1

    I've been using Keepnote (http://keepnote.org/) for reporting technical details in the security industry for assessments. It's FOSS, cross-platform and supports HTML formatting/screenshots. Another nice feature is the HTML export option. Only downside may be a Python dependency issue that may arise during installation.

  60. LyX --- WYSIWYM document processor by WillAdams · · Score: 1

    Basically it's a front-end to LaTeX. You can export various formats from it, and PanDoc allows one to get to pretty much anything.

    I use it on a small tablet PC and it allows handwriting input.

    If I need a math equation I write it out in Infty Editor: http://www.inftyproject.org/en... and paste in the LaTeX code.

    If I need a diagram, I draw it up in Corel Grafigo, InkScape, Macromedia Freehand, or Dia and include it as a .pdf

    --
    Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
  61. FLOSS or non-FLOSS? by Thumper_SVX · · Score: 1

    Honestly, a lot depends on whether or not you want FLOSS or non-FLOSS, paid on non-paid etc. Not to mention how much actual work you want to put into your system.

    I have two, both of which are nominally "free". The first is OneNote that I use for work. It syncs across all my devices and works really well for someone who uses a Windows tablet as I can both write notes with my stylus and draw diagrams. This functionality alone makes it a stand-out awesome system for me as typically in the kinds of meetings I do (with customers) it's usually frowned upon to sit there with a screen in front of you and a keyboard, but if you have a pad flat on the table and can be seen to be writing notes, drawing diagrams etc. it makes a customer feel that I am much more engaged in the conversation. Believe me, I've seen it when my peers are tapping away at their keyboards the customers tend to look to me for input or information because they feel my colleague is not engaged. Some of my colleagues use pen and paper, but I find my method works best for me... I don't run out of ink or paper... though occasionally I do find my battery in my stylus dead. Oh... and even if I lost my tablet I'd still have my notes.

    For my personal stuff I used to use Evernote because it was cross-platform. I didn't need handwriting... occasionally need pictures in a note etc. I even paid for premium for a while and I do still have many of my personal notes in it... though I use the free service now.

    What I'm migrating to for personal notes is OwnNote which is an app for OwnCloud. This is a FLOSS environment that is free... but to set it up you do need a server that's on the Internet or at least accessible on your local intranet. The down side is a lack of fat client apps... offline sync and the like. It means that you need to be online to write notes. Now, there's an app for Android and one for iOS, but not for Windows or Linux (that I'm aware of, anyway). This means offline usage is pretty much out. Having said that, the API is open enough and I have enough coding skills that I might throw together a fat client at some point, or I might just wait until someone else does it and contribute. It hasn't been a big problem as yet simply because I am typically online wherever I need to take notes for personal consumption.

    I host mine on a server at home and I deal with the front-end connectivity by having an OpenVPN network with a Linode fronting it using NGINX. This is overly complex, yes... I also host my own mail server and web site (still!) so this makes my life easier... but you could just as easily front it on a consumer-grade home connection using DynDNS or some other similar service. Of course, the nice thing about this setup is that it also gives me DropBox/OneDrive functionality that's private and owned by me. It's nice to have ALL my documents stored in a "cloud" because I can selectively sync across all my devices, and then I have a script that backs the whole thing up twice a week to S3/Glacier. Yeah, that's also an additional cost but it's cheaper and more convenient to me than a lot of the alternatives. And yes, my S3/Glacier backups are all encrypted :)

  62. a tool under active development by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this new android plain text note app supports markdown and tasker automation, etc, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appmindlab.nano, not open source *yet*

  63. DEVONThink by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is the best I have found so far. The web clipping tools and search are particularly important to me and work very well.
    If you want to go the handwritten route, throw livescribe into the mix too.

  64. RedNotebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This might be of interest: http://rednotebook.sourceforge.net/

  65. simplenote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am not sure it meets your needs, but I have started trying simplenote. I would like to find something a with automatic data and times and version control or change tracking without some big production.

  66. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  67. aChaos - Open Source Notebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Check out aChaos. I am the developer for it and haven't really advertised it before. I wanted a cross-platform, WYSIWYG notebook that stores data offline. aChaos stores notes, lists, and attachments. The notes are stored in a SQLite database, so you can search outside of the app if you want.

    There are not a lot of users, but I do use it about every day. If you find any issues, please submit them.

  68. Wiki by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wiki. Wiki wiki wiki. It's easy, it's portable, it's hypertext format makes cross referencing great. It has search, it has timestamps, it has version control. It has security.

    I run MediaWiki with MySQL on a CentOS VM on VirtualBox that runs on my workstation and I use that for any notes or information that I need to keep. Nightly backups go to a drive that's backed up. I have a VirtualBox "appliance", based on the MediaWiki VM config that restores from the most recent Wiki backup when it boots. That "restore wiki" is also on backed up storage.

    For me. A disaster recovery scenario only involves installing virtualbox, importing the "restore wiki appliance" and starting it back up.

  69. Zim Desktop Wiki by rnstech · · Score: 1

    I use Zim for just this purpose.

  70. onenote by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

    forget the attachment to FLOSS, MS OneNote is simply superior to everything else out there. I picked up a copy of OneNote 2007 for 20 bucks, it looks ugly as sin on windows 10, but it works just fine and with clip to onenote, it integrates cleanly with firefox

    --
    Snowden and Manning are heroes.