The best todo list app for any developer
coderwall.com
coderwall.com
Free, open, plain text, with lots of optional tools for the command line and also mobile.
And for more power, emacs org mode is amazing.
cat $HOME/Dropbox/todo/todo.txt
Not completely. The associated Android app I just bought is $2. Though it's still not much.
it has import scripts from several things including todo.sh, and several export scripts including ical. there's a decent third party android app if you really want that.
it has task undo support, and generally seems much more powerful than todo.sh.
obviously main advantage of todo.sh is that you can edit the file in a plain text editor.
head -n 10 ~/todo.md
What could possibly go wrong ?! ;-)
What's with this HN hype of turning "Hey, look, I do X" into "if you're a Y, like I am, you should do X"?
I store it in my repo (TODO.org), and keep track of whatever I'm working on, immensely helpful for keeping track.
the obvious downside to the motd method is length of todo list... It might be good for motivational messages but not for actual todo lists.
It was crude and messy and reminded me of high school.
A couple of years ago, I found myself migrating towards something like it. I use large index cards, but.. more or less, do the same thing.
I still have remnants of every to do app on my iPhone. In each app there's abandoned lists of tasks that got recorded and forgotten, or recorded and "re-prioritized", forever.
The nice thing about the card is, if it's mostly scratched out and there are things left on it, you can copy the items to a new, fresh card and then keep going. If the items aren't that important, it's as simple as throwing whole card away. It's satisfying and simple and there's no process-guilt involved.
"Throw card out" is a feature.
I kept a digital list for a few years, but eventually it just became a crap heap of undone tasks and abandoned ideas that would get batch re-scheduled forward forever. Paper lists work really well for me.
I like that the paper gets full and I have to copy it to a new sheet. It forces me to review the things on the list. Things that stay on the list naturally migrate to the top of the list. I start to notice them hanging out there, at the top, where they are the first reminder that they have been at the top of the list for so long.
The system has many emergent features.
It serves him immensely well.
The main advantage of this approach is that having to keep a pad of paper around tells me that my life is getting too complicated and I do whatever I have to to cut it back down to basics, ditching the tools. I would loathe it if I had to institutionalize this complexity in the form of an app.
When you want to say something to a colleague at work, you have a choice of emailing/IMing or just saying it out loud (if you can speak of course) as in, you know, normal human conversation. You don't use a text editor and a speech synthesizer to say something out loud, do you? Because the effort isn't worth it, obviously. Just like you choose an email app that helps you get things done with the least effort, you can as well chose between app vs. non-app.
The thing with the TODO list is that there seems to be this stereotype that you need to keep it in digital form. This has obvious advantages of being copyable, searchable and potentially accessible from anywhere if it's cloud-based. But in return, you compromise simplicity of use. Find the app - click - find the "add" button - click - think of the deadline - launch the calendar - click - click - click ... - type the text - click "OK" - close the app. Now compare that to: turn your head (or your chair) some 30-45 degrees - grab the pen - find the bottom of your list - think of the deadline - write. Fast, simple and sweet, isn't it?
So sweet in fact, that I can sacrifice searchability (easier to skim through the list on paper if it's not too long) and universal accessibility (rarely need outside of the office).
Or maybe I'm just being old-school?
alias etodos="sudo vim /etc/motd"
alias etodos="sudoedit /etc/motd"Alternatively, you can make a list and paste a `cat /path/to/list` in your shell rc.
My "solution" at the moment is a series of text files in a Dropbox folder coupled with a small webapp that lets me edit it with Ace (for when I'm out and about) and that applies a bunch of custom filters (to create highlighted priority indicators etc.) + markdown. So all the workflow is in my head / manual, but I get syncing to my main locations plus some visual cues to improve over just plain text.
It's refreshing to hear that someone else also works this way! :P
https://github.com/hatboysam/shpm
I use it and I hope someone else will get something from it. Based on todo.txt but simpler imo.
Install GeekTool and use the shell "Geeklet" to affix the todo list permanently on your desktop background. You can adjust the font/size/transparency to make it as obnoxious as needed.
http://taskwarrior.org/projects/show/taskwarrior
alias due='task rc.calendar.details:full cal'
to get a nice representation of tasks. you might wanna combine taskwarrior with remind.
http://www.roaringpenguin.com/products/remind
it allows you to "program" your calendar dates. A little caveat if you're on osx you may need to patch it otherwise it will have a 30 or 10 second startup delay
# todo function todo { case "$1" in "-a") echo "$2" >> $HOME/.todo ;; "-d") sed -i "" -e "$2d" $HOME/.todo ;; esac if [ -f "$HOME/.todo" ] ; then cat $HOME/.todo | awk '{ print NR, "-", $0 }' fi } todo
It's funny how developers who work under Windows (not even necessarily developing for Windows) are often not even considered real developers by the "pure" devs :)
I hope this helps though.
The other arguments seem to be preference. Some people work better with paper. Some people only want system configuration in /etc. If you're a stickler for the Single Responsibility Principle in the config files in your OS, then I assume you already have your own solution to this problem and you don't need a tutorial from me.
You were introduced to the idea of todo's in your terminal, but then only accept the worst solution.
It is as if one guy says "Hey guys, I have found a way to not have to shit in the woods any more, we just have a bucket next to our bed and in the morning we throw it out the windows."
The second guy says "ok, lets not shit in the woods, but what if we create this thing called a sewage with a thing called 'toilet' on top so we don't have shit in the streets."
You say "Ok I see what you mean, what with having the shit in the streets and all, but some people work better with paper." Eh what?
I do wonder if you login as root, though.
But the notion of having them in your terminal on a new tab or window is perfect for me.