Zetk: CLI utilities, fzf-based scripts, C++ lib for managing your Zettelkasten | Hacker News Reader

Zetk: CLI utilities, fzf-based scripts, C++ lib for managing your Zettelkasten

gitlab.com

I've developed a set of UNIX-philosophy CLI utilities for managing your zettelkasten, a C++ library (used by the utilities) and a set of shell scripts that makes the whole thing easy to use for the terminal-savvy. The fzf-based finder (script) integrates with Vim. It's probably the fastest set of zettelkasten utilities. Heavily inspired by sirupsen/zk, but faster, more powerful and more consistent interface.

utilities + lib: https://gitlab.com/andrejr/zetk shell wrappers: https://gitlab.com/andrejr/zetk_fzf

Shared under AGPL3.

Thanks for hosting on not-github!

I decided on the FOSS option even before GitHub sold out to Microsoft. I've used Gitlab (and Gitlab CI) on my home server for years, it's been excellent so far.

Why it's good to not host on github? If anything, it just makes project more painful to consume

How so? `git clone` doesn't operate any differently here than it does on GitHub or any other git hosting service. Reading the `README.md` or other Markdown based project notes doesn't work any differently here from GitHub or any other git host. Reading a documentation wiki, or filing an issue in the bug tracker isn't any different here. Hell, you can even log in using your GitHub account on most other git hosting services, so creating an account there is pretty much totally "frictionless". So, what exactly is so "painful" about it?

>so creating an account there

This.

Please see:

https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/jun/30/give-up-github-la...

Github is fundamentally flawed. It's wrong to host nearly all prominent FOSS on a proprietary platform that also does whatever the hell it wants with your code, regardless of the license of your project (CoPilot), because apparently they feel the github ToS outranks than your chosen license.

Feels like one of those GPL-like crusades which are counter productive.

At least for me, whenever I go down these productivity rabbit holes I spend so much time getting everything set up just so that I never actually get around to benefitting from the thing I was trying to build. I used do the same thing with hobbies as well, buying and collecting all the tools and never actually using them. Same with customising Linux and getting my environment perfect as well, now that I think about it.

I know that others get great benefit from zettelkasten and that's awesome. I just have a certain kind of brain that short circuits the benefit part and so they become endless yak shaving exercises. Is there some productivity approach out there that avoids this, other than just trying to keep yourself focused on the outcomes you're trying to reach?

Man this is getting so goddamned ridiculous.

Try to remember why Socrates cursed books. Oh, yes I'll wait while you navigate to, "Socrates-Books" in your Zettelkasten.

Tbh I use it rather differently, mostly for programming stuff. It makes sense to have the following things connected, for example: visitor pattern, std::visit, overload lambda template. Makes it easy to find related concepts and tricks. All bite sized snippets and explanations.

It's also great for storing rarely used commandline snippets and tricks in a structured way, for things I use once in several years. Picocom and screen tricks and configs neatly connected to pages for old lab and network equipment, MIDI sysex tools and tricks connected to docs about certain FX processors and synths,...

It's especially useful when you simply forget that you even had solutions for certain things, and that certain things are connected. I did so many vastly different things over the years that this seems to be the only way to efficiently jump back into something I haven't done in a while. I have a huge personal wiki (2000+ articles in vimwiki) which I'm now migrating to this tool, and there's one huge difference: I'm never sitting there thinking "How do I jam this new article into the wiki hierarchy... Oh, it's equally important for both of these categories...". I just jot it down in vim, add a couple tags, maybe a link or two, maybe find similar articles for inspiration if I don't know what to link to, and done. Extremely fast compared to a big vimwiki.

Funny "visitor" is about the only GoF pattern left in use, at least in C++ code.

Ripe for disruption, by some measures.

Perhaps I'm not as disciplined as all the other die-hard Zettelkasten practitioners, but no matter what tool/software I adopted, I almost always end up abandoning them.

The missing ingredient (for me) was a feedback loop: metrics. With the system that I designed for myself (through trial and error) , I no longer rely on one particular software ... metrics I put in place now remind me when I need to:

1) Convert my literature notes into permanent notes (i.e. create notes in my "slipbox") 2) Explore a subject in more depth

Are you driving towards a certain goal? What is #2 for?

Yes, as a "T-Shaped" person and solo entrepreneur, my (never ending) goal is to continue to develop expertise in one two areas.

I’m in a similar boat. Would love to hear what your process is.

Looks interesting, I'm still looking for the holy grail so I'll go over it.

Just so you know, when clicking the screenshot thumbhnails (even with the mouse, not only with Tridactyl) instead of opening a full size screenshot Firefox downloads an SVG file.

Does this system require dates in the title like zk does? Seems fairly silly to have to specify the date every time you create a link

Nope. They just need to be Markdown files.

This good, modern, well-disciplined code. Would use.

I wonder if exposing this as a language server would be helpful?

Yes, I've been considering that since the beginning. Website (backend in C++, frontend in Svelte) takes priority, because this solution is good enough so far, and I'd really like to have access to my ZK on my phone. Probably not a website meant for the open internet: I have a server at home + use Wireguard VPN, so my phone can connect to local services/sites at all times.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com