From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Daniel Clemente Subject: Re: org-mode for knowledge management Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 18:36:23 +0700 Message-ID: <87oatihm88.wl-n142857@gmail.com> References: <87oatkkdes.fsf@wmi.amu.edu.pl> <87siiwc4gd.wl-n142857@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 (generated by SEMI-EPG 1.14.7 - "Harue") Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:40351) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XcuyX-0001Li-JX for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Sat, 11 Oct 2014 07:36:46 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XcuyT-0008Sq-6F for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Sat, 11 Oct 2014 07:36:41 -0400 Received: from mail-pd0-x22b.google.com ([2607:f8b0:400e:c02::22b]:36721) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XcuyS-0008Sa-QW for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Sat, 11 Oct 2014 07:36:37 -0400 Received: by mail-pd0-f171.google.com with SMTP id ft15so3086577pdb.2 for ; Sat, 11 Oct 2014 04:36:35 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: John Hendy Cc: emacs-orgmode , Marcin Borkowski El Fri, 10 Oct 2014 16:48:39 -0500 John Hendy va escriure: >=20 > On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 10:46 AM, Daniel Clemente wro= te: > >> > > >> > I've been using org-mode for a variety of purposes for a few years. = I find > >> > that it suffers from the same problem that other such tools do. The > >> > problem is me. I can't remember week to week how I may have classifi= ed > >> > some scrap of information. Did I drop it into notes/someproduct.org = or was > >> > it procedures/someprocess.org? > > > > 1. Every information should have a single location, not two. Mix sectio= ns fast > > if you detect repetitions. Use links extensively (C-c l) to connect one= header > > with another, specially after you get lost once. Don't bother too much = about > > finding the right place at the first time, you'll eventually reorder or= move > > headers to the correct place. >=20 > I'm curious about this. Is this a well-known recommendation/best > practice?=20 I find it it similar to the =E2=80=9EDon't repeat yourself=E2=80=9C princ= iple. But I was just explaining my experience. > I actually struggle with this a great deal. Often a bit of > research or testing for a specific project at work is very possibly > relevant to any number of future projects. So, working in product > development, I find it hard to decide what the best "single location" > is, and would love for it to act as though it were in multiple > locations. >=20 > When the current project is done, I'd like to archive everything > specifically related to it while keeping around the general knowledge > I've accumulated for use with future efforts. I use no tags or categories, just a clear and manual separation of concep= ts. E.g. it's not the same activity =E2=80=9EI'm learning about database X= =E2=80=9C and =E2=80=9EI'm considering database X for project Y=E2=80=9C, b= ecause notes from the first one go to Databases.org and notes from the seco= nd one to ProjectY.org. Clocking is different (even if I'm learning about X= , I clock in Y if I'm doing it as part of a project). Therefore I try to keep project notes at a minimum, because they are date= d and ephimeral, whereas the general knowledge accumulates in other files (= one file per topic, encyclopedia-style). >=20 > Or is this what you mean by using links? Are you just saying that > individuals should not be copying the same text around in multiple > places? >=20 Of course copy+paste is a nightmare to maintain (see: DRY). I am still fo= rced to do it with some org tables which do complex calculations. I think o= rg offers dynamic tables to apply the same process to different data source= s, but it gets complex. I think there's no such thing as =E2=80=9Etemplates= =E2=80=9C where you change the base one and all uses of it (in all files) a= re automatically updated. About links: in org-mode they all look the same, but semantically there a= re many types, like: - *is-a*: =E2=80=9Ethis is a concrete implementation of [[that generic know= ledge]]=E2=80=9C - *related*: =E2=80=9Erelated to this is: [[that]]=E2=80=9C - *same-as*: =E2=80=9Ethis and [[that]] are exactly the same topic, so writ= e only under that header, not here=E2=80=9C =E2=86=90 this is poor man's tr= ansclusion, or more like =E2=80=9Esymbolic links=E2=80=9C in ext4. With it,= a header seems to be present in many places at the same time; in reality t= he content is only in one place and the rest are links. The good thing is, = it doesn't really matter /where/ exactly is that tree, because you'll find = it anyway by following maximum 1 link. X can link to Y, or Y can link the X= ; what's important is that reading both X or Y you'll find exactly the same= thing (not copy+pasted contents). So, it's all about finding a manual algorithm to organize things. Daniel