Compare Note Taking Apps and Emacs.

Compare Note Taking Apps and Emacs.

[Hongyi Zhao]

Hi here,

I noticed this website [1] given a tools list to Compare Note Taking
Apps, but Emacs is not listed in them. I wonder if Emacs is suitable
for this kind of work, or if it is outdated compared to these modern
tools.

[1] https://noteapps.info/apps/compare?note_app=logseq%2Bnotion%2Bobsidian%2Broam

Regards,
Zhao
-- 
Assoc. Prof. Hongsheng Zhao <hongyi.zhao@gmail.com>
Theory and Simulation of Materials
Hebei Vocational University of Technology and Engineering
No. 473, Quannan West Street, Xindu District, Xingtai, Hebei province

Re: Compare Note Taking Apps and Emacs.

[Emanuel Berg]

Hongyi Zhao wrote:

> I noticed this website given a tools list to Compare Note
> Taking Apps, but Emacs is not listed in them. I wonder if
> Emacs is suitable for this kind of work, or if it is
> outdated compared to these modern tools.

There was a popular application for Windows (sounds more like
MacOS but I think it was Windows), this application gained
some fame and for some time there wasn't, maybe still isn't
a FOSS Unix equivalent up to strength really up there to
compete, this despite the seemingly trivial task of putting
up notes.

But for us that are used to using text files in an editor for
everything, I guess Emacs is number one for taking notes
as well.

Heh, maybe we should fabricate such websites comparing tools
for different things, and then Emacs always come number one!
Except for some really arcane hacking, where Vim would come
first (and Emacs second), just to give the presentation some
credibility (Emacs can't be best at _everything_, right?), but
also as a nod to the Vim guys ...

-- 
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

Re: Compare Note Taking Apps and Emacs.

[Emanuel Berg]

> There was a popular application for Windows (sounds more
> like MacOS but I think it was Windows), this application
> gained some fame and for some time there wasn't, maybe still
> isn't a FOSS Unix equivalent up to strength really up there
> to compete, this despite the seemingly trivial task of
> putting up notes.
>
> But for us that are used to using text files in an editor for
> everything, I guess Emacs is number one for taking notes
> as well.

But, can you do _this_ in the popular note apps?

[Actually, the software of choise here would be a spreadsheet,
 which we have in-house in Emacs for that matter. But, doing
 it in Elisp just makes it more interesting and fun! See also
 how much fun you can have with the interesting
 mini/sub-language of `cl-loop', but it is an acquired taste.]

;;; -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
;;
;; this file:
;;   https://dataswamp.org/~incal/emacs-init/tent.el

(require 'cl-lib)

(when nil
  (cl-loop
    with gear = '(
                  ("tent"                    2530)
                  ("sleeping bag"            1215)
                  ("sleeping pad"             895)
                  ("comic book"               605)
                  ("rubber mallet"            460)
                  ("head torch 3*AAA"         110)
                  ("bottle"                   100)
                  ("firelighter"               58)
                  ("flashlight 1*AAA"          33)
                  ("lighter"                   22)
                  ("knife"                    nil)
                  ("spiritmethylated spirit"  nil)
                  ("trangia"                  nil)
                 )
    with weight = 0
    with items  = (length gear)
    for (_ w) in gear
    do (when (numberp w)
         (cl-incf weight w) )
    finally return (format "items: %s\nweight: %s g" items weight) ))

(provide 'tent)

-- 
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

Re: Compare Note Taking Apps and Emacs.

[Robby Zambito]

Hi Zhao,

Hongyi Zhao <hongyi.zhao@gmail.com> writes:

> I noticed this website given a tools list to Compare Note Taking
> Apps, but Emacs is not listed in them. I wonder if Emacs is suitable
> for this kind of work, or if it is outdated compared to these modern
> tools.

Emacs is absolutely suitable for note taking! It would be a bit harder
to compare head to head like the rest of these, because while it can do
most (all?) of the listed features, they may be available as seperate
packages, rather than as base features of Emacs.

Org Mode is pretty nice for note taking. I personally use an extension
to Org Mode called Org Roam (originally designed based on Roam Research,
which is listed on that site). Check out https://www.orgroam.com if you
are interested :)

Robby