2.1 KiB
Unix Notetaking
Introduction
I have seen many people (like Thomas Frank) take notes using programs like Notion or Evernote. Personally, I take notes using plaintext files, as they are simpler, more flexible, and more portable than the alternatives.
Benefits
Simplicity
Plain text files have a small amount of moving parts, which reduces setup time and cost, failure points, and cognitive load. All of the benefits of plain text files are built-in and intrinsic to them.
Flexiblity
One can arrange plain text files however they want. Plain text files are not tied to a specific format, so mix and match as you like! They are accesible to a wide variety of tools.
This also means that with the right text editor, writing plain text files only requires using a keyboard, rather than constantly switching between a mouse and a keyboard.
Portability
Plain text files are independent of any particular program, environment, ecosystem, or operating system, and have no dependencies other than a text editor. They work offline, useful for those at rural areas, who are living offgrid, or who want to reduce distractions, as the internet is a huge source of distractions (for me at least). They use no third-party with control over you, unlike Notion, Evernote, Microsoft Office, and other proprietary programs.
Usage
Markdown
Markdown is an excellent clean markup language for writing, readable by both humans and machines alike. Unfortunately, it has many different specifications, so I use the CommonMark specification.
For rendering markdown files, use glow.
Custom Formats
You could also add custom markup to your plain text files. For example:
% description: How to make a Solar Cooker
% tags: food, tutorial, tech
Git
To manage file changes, use a version control system like Git. A version control system tracks changes and allows a user to reverse them, or put them in a seperate development branch, and merge development branches. Git also allows collaboration between different users, where each have their own local copy, while keeping it synchronized with the main repository.