Lots of emacs users will tell you that YOU should prefer starting from scratch with emacs and just trusting that it can be a slick and modern experience and yeah if that is what inspires you do it but otherwise don’t listen to those people for one nano second.
This video is a great 15 minute argument about why Org Mode is amazing.
This video is a great rundown (even though it is from 2015) of why a writer might be compelled to invest so much time in learning Org Mode when it gives off a vibe of a tool designed for nerdy programmers exclusively.
For mobile I use organice as a web browser front end (Progressive Web App, pin it to your phones home screen) for editing and viewing Org files (with included agenda/calendar support and task tracking as per normal Org Mode in emacs). Eventually I want to set up a local WebDAV file server but right now I just set up a Dropbox with Organice and then plugged in Syncthing to sync my Org files to other devices.
Try out Organice here, you can test it right in your browser…. because it runs totally in a phone or desktop browser (it’s a PWA!!). No data is sent to Organice, the hosted website is just an easy way to download the webpage to your phone (pin to home screen) and from that point on your devices just directly connect with no remote Organice servers ever actually touching your data.
Emacs and Spacemacs also run in (command line mode) on termux on android, also Emacs is close to being released as a native app on android and I am excited to see where that goes with mobile Org Mode-info.
For file syncing I particularly recommend Syncthing because it requires no formal file server nor does it require a single server host (no single point of failure in a multiple device network syncing a folder). Files can easily be shared between devices and you can customize it to your hearts content, and especially if you have Syncthing running on your phone or a raspberry pi or something as your relay server SyncThing just works soooo damn well I love it.
When using Syncthing to backup critical text files (that contain organizational and task tracking stuff), just go into the settings for that folder, set file versioning to “simple file versioning” and crank the number of old versions of a file to keep up to like 50… because I mean why not? With text files it isn’t going to take up any significant space, and while this is a crude solution it is also a lot less brittle than more sophisticated ways of monitoring folders for differences in files and then syncing them to remote folders with copies of that file.
The main developers of Syncthing were unsure they would ever be able to get it to work with iOS’s file system, but thankfully somebody made an app called MobiusSync which is a paid app (a couple of bucks) which works fantastic for bringing SyncThing to iPhones/iOS.
The thing that makes SyncThing so eminently practical is that if you are using a task tracking/organizational system that keeps its contents in a folder in a simple fashion (no database or anything) the file difference tracking of SyncThing immediately sets up a very powerful backup system that is MUCH more of a pain in the ass to DIY with any other setup (say Nextcloud and having to host a server).
One recommendation I have that connects well with SyncThing is the downright sexy wiki software Dokuwiki
Why is Dokuwiki sexy? It is super lightweight and keeps all the files for a wiki inside a normal folder with each page having a separate markdown file. There is no database you also have to get up and running that then makes remote syncing/backup a much more complex process. Just aim SyncThing at the folder where Dokuwiki is storing the wiki files and BAM you are done. Dokuwiki needs more love!!!
Dokuwiki also has a fairly mature plugin and theme database of community created content you can download. Most importantly is the farmer plug-in which lets you host multiple bifurcated wikis on the same website/Dokuwiki server. There are also just a bunch of different plugins that allow you to set up anything from a blog to personal/intercompany documentation extremely easily and with zero annoying requirement to directly build the basic boilerplate stuff a website or wiki with a database normally requires.
If Org Mode is too much for you (you are in good company, company being the majority of human beings who don’t like silly endless rabbit holes lol) LogSeq might be worth checking out. It has a nice mobile app and SyncThing can easily be set up to sync the file folder LogSeq is using.
If you (somehow, congrats! I respect the masochism) reached the end of this post and are annoyed that I am acting like a semi-human encyclopedia word vomiting information about annoying niche things nobody else cares about and it comes off like the tools I use massively overcomplicate things even when I claim they are simplifying things with a totally serious face (with a cult-like fervor in my eyes…?). Well here is some mindbleach for your troubles
Not really a programmer so sometimes I feel bad I don’t have a better way to give back to the projects that have improved my quality of life immensely (and made me much more hopeful of a person).
If I can help even a little bit with raising awareness and connect people with dope open source projects than fuck yeah. Best use of my time possible in my opinion. These tools are seriously powerful, they are made by designers who are far wiser than I will ever be and it is deeply moving to me that they are given out so freely to the world!
Hey Look One Of My Favorite Hyperfocus Topics, Somebody Asked ME To Word Vomit.... What Is This ADHD Christmas????
Emacs (I like Spacemacs distribution with vim keybindings) with Org Mode.
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
https://www.spacemacs.org/
Some people prefer Doom
https://github.com/doomemacs/doomemacs
Lots of emacs users will tell you that YOU should prefer starting from scratch with emacs and just trusting that it can be a slick and modern experience and yeah if that is what inspires you do it but otherwise don’t listen to those people for one nano second.
This video is a great 15 minute argument about why Org Mode is amazing.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DEeStDz_imQ
This video is a great rundown (even though it is from 2015) of why a writer might be compelled to invest so much time in learning Org Mode when it gives off a vibe of a tool designed for nerdy programmers exclusively.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FtieBc3KptU
For mobile I use organice as a web browser front end (Progressive Web App, pin it to your phones home screen) for editing and viewing Org files (with included agenda/calendar support and task tracking as per normal Org Mode in emacs). Eventually I want to set up a local WebDAV file server but right now I just set up a Dropbox with Organice and then plugged in Syncthing to sync my Org files to other devices.
Try out Organice here, you can test it right in your browser…. because it runs totally in a phone or desktop browser (it’s a PWA!!). No data is sent to Organice, the hosted website is just an easy way to download the webpage to your phone (pin to home screen) and from that point on your devices just directly connect with no remote Organice servers ever actually touching your data.
https://github.com/200ok-ch/organice
Emacs and Spacemacs also run in (command line mode) on termux on android, also Emacs is close to being released as a native app on android and I am excited to see where that goes with mobile Org Mode-info.
https://termux.dev/en/
For file syncing I particularly recommend Syncthing because it requires no formal file server nor does it require a single server host (no single point of failure in a multiple device network syncing a folder). Files can easily be shared between devices and you can customize it to your hearts content, and especially if you have Syncthing running on your phone or a raspberry pi or something as your relay server SyncThing just works soooo damn well I love it.
https://syncthing.net/
When using Syncthing to backup critical text files (that contain organizational and task tracking stuff), just go into the settings for that folder, set file versioning to “simple file versioning” and crank the number of old versions of a file to keep up to like 50… because I mean why not? With text files it isn’t going to take up any significant space, and while this is a crude solution it is also a lot less brittle than more sophisticated ways of monitoring folders for differences in files and then syncing them to remote folders with copies of that file.
https://docs.syncthing.net/users/versioning.html
The main developers of Syncthing were unsure they would ever be able to get it to work with iOS’s file system, but thankfully somebody made an app called MobiusSync which is a paid app (a couple of bucks) which works fantastic for bringing SyncThing to iPhones/iOS.
https://www.mobiussync.com/
The thing that makes SyncThing so eminently practical is that if you are using a task tracking/organizational system that keeps its contents in a folder in a simple fashion (no database or anything) the file difference tracking of SyncThing immediately sets up a very powerful backup system that is MUCH more of a pain in the ass to DIY with any other setup (say Nextcloud and having to host a server).
One recommendation I have that connects well with SyncThing is the downright sexy wiki software Dokuwiki
https://www.dokuwiki.org/dokuwiki
Why is Dokuwiki sexy? It is super lightweight and keeps all the files for a wiki inside a normal folder with each page having a separate markdown file. There is no database you also have to get up and running that then makes remote syncing/backup a much more complex process. Just aim SyncThing at the folder where Dokuwiki is storing the wiki files and BAM you are done. Dokuwiki needs more love!!!
Dokuwiki also has a fairly mature plugin and theme database of community created content you can download. Most importantly is the farmer plug-in which lets you host multiple bifurcated wikis on the same website/Dokuwiki server. There are also just a bunch of different plugins that allow you to set up anything from a blog to personal/intercompany documentation extremely easily and with zero annoying requirement to directly build the basic boilerplate stuff a website or wiki with a database normally requires.
https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugins
If Org Mode is too much for you (you are in good company, company being the majority of human beings who don’t like silly endless rabbit holes lol) LogSeq might be worth checking out. It has a nice mobile app and SyncThing can easily be set up to sync the file folder LogSeq is using.
https://logseq.com/
If you (somehow, congrats! I respect the masochism) reached the end of this post and are annoyed that I am acting like a semi-human encyclopedia word vomiting information about annoying niche things nobody else cares about and it comes off like the tools I use massively overcomplicate things even when I claim they are simplifying things with a totally serious face (with a cult-like fervor in my eyes…?). Well here is some mindbleach for your troubles
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=urcL86UpqZc
thanks for this!! there’s so much info on this comment
i’m currently using Logseq w/ Syncthing but i’ll be looking at Org Mode and DokuWiki
Not really a programmer so sometimes I feel bad I don’t have a better way to give back to the projects that have improved my quality of life immensely (and made me much more hopeful of a person).
If I can help even a little bit with raising awareness and connect people with dope open source projects than fuck yeah. Best use of my time possible in my opinion. These tools are seriously powerful, they are made by designers who are far wiser than I will ever be and it is deeply moving to me that they are given out so freely to the world!