Comment by ilovecaching | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ilovecaching | Hacker News Reader

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Don't use org mode. As I said in another comment in this thread, the whole idea is just egregious yak shaving.

Does org mode have semantic understanding of keywords and a language AI to record my tasks for me? Then it's doomed. Does it sync in the cloud and have world class security (only storing decryption keys at rest in specialized hardware, locally on a TPM like device)? Then it's doomed. Does it have beautiful graphical interfaces for tablet, phone, and PC? Then it's doomed. Does it require you to learn how to use an antiquated text editor that only a small niche of non-programmers are using? Then it's doomed.

You can use org mode even if it is doomed to be irrelevant to normal people. It will continue to work. But it's not magic, please STOP TELLING ME IT'S MAGIC. It's not better than what's out there. There's companies sinking tons of money into todo apps and note taking apps that are integrating modern technologies that make any advantage of org mode complete obsolete in the world of advanced GUIs and language models.

> But it's not magic, please STOP TELLING ME IT'S MAGIC. It's not better than what's out there.

While Bear has some cool features, so does Org mode. I personally like that I can author blog posts in it, put in some code in SageMath within my org document, and whenever I export the org file for publishing, it will execute that code.

I like that I can make a note and simultaneously link to an email I have, link to some code in a .cpp file, and link to a Jira ID.

I like that I can log how many minutes I spent on a writing project, and have it automatically enter that data into Beeminder.[1]

And so much more that I'm sure Bear doesn't do.

[1] https://www.beeminder.com/

Again, you are living in the past.

- I can share a note with my wife and kids and they can live edit together.

- I can encrypt my notes and share them across the cloud.

- I can send my notes in an email, I can embed photos, videos, emails, messages in my notes.

- I can send my notes directly to my reminders and attach them to a reminder.

- I can can documents and sketches directly from my notes.

- My notes automatically look for keywords to turn into dates and reminders.

- My notes can add tags and have automatic backups and recovery.

You can also put code blocks within a note, export it, and then run it through a code executor, which is way safer than having some sort of editor automation that will slurp up a random note and hack your computer and steal all your credit card info.

What apps are you currently using?

Have you considered some people just don't use the same features as you?

I have tried a couple of these SaaS note-taking apps and I've immediately hated them. Too much fluff, too much bullshit only put in to justify charging a price for what is effectively notepad running in a cloud. No, I don't need to sync or share anything. I don't need integration with 50 other useless cloud products. I have very little use for software which is proprietary and can't be arbitrarily beaten into submission to do what I want, and only what I want. I have no interest in software which is mobile first and has no decent native app. And no, electron doesn't count.

Acting as though you have the superior taste and everyone who disagrees with you is just out touch only weakens your argument.

If you want to smash rocks, go smash rocks. I'm not against people who want to use emacs, or org mode, or ed and keep it to themselves. I am against people making bold faced claims to outsiders in order to entice them into an ecosystem that is solidly last century. I am against perpetuating myths and ignoring the terrible UX and learning curve of emacs+org mode. And I find it appalling how emacs drones flock to every emacs or org mode post on hacker news and spout off a bunch of nonsense about how org mode is basically nirvana.

I'm not interested in hearing about how you hate the cloud, or you need a terminal based mail editor because "bells and whistles don't appeal to you", or you need to control every aspect of your system down to the ROM to get anything done. Most of us just want to get stuff done and focus on our actual problems, and that's easy to see - big corpos aren't building out your dream world because no one wants it, that's capitalism baby. Most of us want a secure cloud. Most of us want nice, modern, easy to use features and the advances that have come with decades of UX and AI research.

You can have secure, or you can have cloud, pick one.

> Most of us just want to get stuff done and focus on our actual problems, and that's easy to see - big corpos aren't building out your dream world because no one wants it, that's capitalism baby. Most of us want a secure cloud. Most of us want nice, modern, easy to use features and the advances that have come with decades of UX and AI research.

Most of us don't care for the bulk of what gets posted on HN. I'm not seeing the relevance of the diatribe.

Just because others like something doesn't mean there is pressure on you to. Just because you like something else doesn't mean you need to go post about tools that serve a very different purpose.

This is the equivalent of posting on a Rust submission why you like Haskell so much more. Who cares?

> I find it appalling how emacs drones flock to every emacs or org mode post

Are you even hearing yourself.

It’s weird that almost every emacs or vim related post has a thread like this, filled with hate. Hard to explain it honestly. I’ve yet to see a person who would force somebody to use vim instead of whatever editor the other guy is using. Nobody is taking away the beautiful software that have come with decades of whatever. But anyway here we are.

I find it amusing how you so want to tout what your favorite tool can do, and then simultaneously dismiss what other tools can do that yours can't.

Do you comprehend the basic fact that there can be more than one good tool?

> which is way safer than having some sort of editor automation that will slurp up a random note and hack your computer and steal all your credit card info.

It sounds like you have no idea about Org mode and Emacs.

You don’t really understand the users of such software as vim, neovim, emacs etc. After 20+ years of professional experience, the best tools for me and gor my productivity are tools such as the above, and org mode belongs to that list. I’m not here to tell you that you should use such tools or that you should believe in them, but I’m here to tell you that you are nowhere near to being right with the post above, and I’m not sure you’re that open to accept any other opinions. Might want to reflect on that.

FWIW, I haven't found a better outliner for projects than orgmode and have look for alternatives because of the reasons you mention.

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