this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2024
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I've been looking into all sorts of them recently: logseq, appflowy, vikunja, etc. What tools do you use? Why? What problems did you run into with the previous set of tools you used for this job?

Right now I'm primarily interested in finding a "zero-knowledge" (cloud provider doesn't have access to my data) system for task management. Needs to be able to have recurring tasks and tasks organized in some interesting/useful ways (by projects/labels/something, maybe a kanban and table view). Deadlines and time tracking/planning interesting but not required.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 weeks ago

I have logseq ready for the day I finally use it. If I use it. It will be there. Waiting.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (4 children)

For me one of the most flexible and mature way to knowledge base, tasks and notes is an org-mode.

I have two main workflows. The first one is task management. I have a lot of recurring tasks with tags, deadlines, schedules, etc. All of them are living in org-files in my Nextcloud. On Android I'm using orgzly-reviwed for sync via WebDAV, on my work I'm using organice (via WebDAV) as a "web-version" and also I'm editing my notes in emacs on my laptop (but actually any text editor could be used).

The second one is a knowledge base. I'm using org-roam locally (and with a localhost web server, built in into emacs) and orgnote for Android/Web + synchronization. My knowledge base is Zettelkasten-based.

Orgzly-reviewed: https://github.com/orgzly-revived/orgzly-android-revived

Organice: https://github.com/200ok-ch/organice

Orgnote: https://github.com/Artawower/orgnote

Orgnote provide a way to encrypt all notes by your own key/password. With orgzly I'm relying on Nextcloud encryption.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

The org.pdf documentation is 300 pages long O_O ! https://orgmode.org/org.pdf

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Simple, spin up a Stirling PDF docker, split the org docs and create org notes either by section or by page, linking to the relevant PDF page

Now you've practiced using org mode by documenting org mode in org mode using your own words based off the org mode documentation

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yes... org-mode is more than 20 years old... It is a price of flexibility: I have a strong feeling that one can adjust org-mode to any workflow. But I do not use even a third of the org specification. There are a lot of cool blog posts like "org mode quick start" or "org mode basics", I would recommend to start from such posts, not from a documentation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I keep failing to make Zettelkasten and org-roam work for me. Do you use a single knowledge base for your whole life, with millions of tags and pages? Or should I be making separate directories for each project? Is the "daily journal" the best place to put everything, with well tagged entries?

You don't have to answer all of those!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

No, I have two different things:

  • org-mode files with schedule, diary, tasks, etc.
  • knowledge base, org-roam (orgnote). I have a single base but it contains graphs about topics and these graphs are not connected

I like that approach, because I use orgzly-reviwed on Android with a notifications. And because it is simpler to maintain knowledge base.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Honestly, whatever works for you.

My preferred system is two big directories, one for your daily notes (dailies, journal, etc), and another for literally everything else.

This is how logseq is implemented, and can easily setup emacs org-roam to do it too. It's very nice because you don't need to worry about where to put something, throw it in your daily journals and get all the info down there, and link densely. If it's about a specific topic, link to it and when you go to that topic you'll see the info in the back links below (logseq does it automatically, emacs take a bit of config). You can then transcribe the important/summary/etc info from all of your aggregated back links into a single well thought out and planned document, or at least a single trimmed down one. Or, just leave all the info in the back links, whatever works best for you

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Logseq, kept up to date on all my devices with Syncthing

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I can't understand Logseq, even though it seems appealing. I haven't gone too deep yet but to me it feels weird that they say it's simple and then their documentation is confusing and full of videos explaining how it works. That seems far from simple.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I’ve loved Obsidian since I started using it.

If I moved to OSS, it looks like Logseq would be closest.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

There's Trilium-Next too, I've been trying it for a day or so and it floats my boat better than logseq so far. My notebook is on QOwnNotes right now, it's fantastic but on the simpler side

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I manage my entire life with Logseq. Syncing is done via github, since I have nothing to hide there. I would recommend setting up your own gitlab server instead.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

Although not open source, I use Obsidian since its really extensible, works completely local and has open source extensions. I thought about using Logseq too. I'd never trust Microsoft with my personal notes tho.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

I think I have a good one for you. You are probably familiar with Linear, a JIRA alternative. Well here's pretty much a FOSS clone: https://github.com/makeplane/plane

I self-host, and since the one thing I dont like is it's document library, I pair it with self-hosted Outline: https://github.com/outline/outline

Combined it's a really solid setup.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

Zim

Its amazing. I keep my whole life in there. Also has tons of plugins that probably meet your tasks needs.

I store it in an a encrypted luks volume that I upload to the cloud, so its zero knowledge on all the clouds.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (4 children)

I've enjoyed Zim in the past but not being able to access it on mobile caused me to migrate. Do you have a way to access your notes on the go?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Zim really is amazing, its the perfect balance with its simple plain text files in folders data structure, but powerful search and back linking. And I love linking to other files on the local file system.

How do you do the LUKS volume upload to cloud? Is it for syncing between devices or just backup? Personally I use (self hosted) NextCloud to sync my Zim between devices.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I use Joplin, there's desktop and mobile clients, sync with your own WebDAV server and you've a Kanban plugin. It also does checklists, tables and all the stuff people like. Stores everything in markdown so that's a win.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Same, only I self-host a Joplin server. I have yet to find something that's nearly as versatile with so little effort.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Hmm... besides note sharing what's the advantage of the server over WebDAV? I kina picked WebDAV because I already had the infrastructure in place for other things, and let's face it, it is a piece of cake to get nginx run a WebDAV server.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Webdav is a great option too. I don't know that it's a question of advantage so mush as a matter of preference, honestly. I just like to have my services as segregated as possible. I use Radicale for contacts and calendar. That way, if radicale fails, I lost my ability to sync those, but get to keep syncing my notes and such, if Joplin fails, I lost that ability but my calendars and contacts still sync. I also share a lot of notes, lists and stuff like that with my wife, which makes it easier.

What I have in terms of self-hosted over 14 different services in ProxMox could have been solved by having a simple Nextcloud instance, but I feel nextcloud is overkill for my needs, and if it fails, all my services fail, so I moved away from it about 6 months ago or so.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

by having a simple Nextcloud instance, but I feel nextcloud is overkill for my needs, and if it fails,

I do like to keep things separate as well and Nextcloud is an ongoing source of issues and a piece of shit a software. Since I don't share notes I find WebDAV to be good enough and simple enough not to fail.

My setup is mostly Syncthing, FileBrowser, Baikal, Joplin, FreshRSS, WebDAV (for a bunch of those and as a way to have mobile access to the Syncthing/FileBrowser data. Simple and realiable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Our infrastructure seems pretty similar, except for the Radicale/Baikal part. I also have a Kavita instance, Vaultwarden, Frigate, Stirling Pdf, Immich (but I'm seriously thinking of dropping it as it sucks resources like crazy and tends to break often with very large libraries) and an instance of Wazuh to make sure I have as little potential vulnerabilities as possible in hosts and docker containers.

My wife says I spend too much time playing with my servers and network, but that keeps me home instead of outside, so you would think that's a good thing 🤣

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

Yeah I get the wife part 😂 I use KeepassXC for password so sync happens over Syncthing for desktop/laptop and WebDAV for mobile. Frigate is something I will eventually get in but first I’ve to decide on a good camera brand that can work 100% offline, right now all signs point at AMCrest but I’m a bit undecided.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Frigate is wonderful, and getting better all the time. I also run Scrypted, which is another fantastic tool! The scrubbing on Scrypted NVR is a lot less painful, but a lot more expensive. I enjoy supporting small open source projects, though.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Many have mentioned org-mode. I used it for years but have moved on to todo.txt and markdown. I use syncthing to keep notes up to date on my phone and computer. I edit with whatever is available on my desktop and I use markor notes on my phone.

I think this setup only lacks the recurring tasks option. I think org-mode can do that but I use my calendar for that.

This is a highly personal topic so I'd suggest trying as many things as you can. Something will stick eventually.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I've always used joplin mobile for notes and vikunja for tasks and reminders. Vikunja has projects and labels for organizing tasks, and supports list, table, kanban, and a timeline view. There's a paid version (for corporations, I think) at https://vikunja.io/, but there are loads of other free to use instances. I personally use https://todo.projectsegfau.lt/. Edit: I wholeheartedly hope you at least try vikunja https://try.vikunja.io/, because it's one of my most used and beloved services.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

I use the app opentask. Based on your criteria, it's exactly what you're looking for. It's all stored locally on your phone, it has the ability to set recurring tasks, and you can create categories of preset and custom tasks. Deadlines can be set as far into the future as you need, down to the minute. It's available on F-Droid.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

Tasks.org for tasks and Joplin for notes. Both can be synced with various technologies.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Vim with markdown

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

LogSec is really nice and flexible.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

@makeasnek emacs + denote and org mode

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Org mode on my laptop, don't see any need for anything else.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Zim Wiki https://zim-wiki.org/

Desktop wiki, saving to .md text files, can commit to git repo and has basic task handling.

Perfect for me.

Zim can be used to:

Keep an archive of notes
Keep a daily or weekly journal
Take notes during meetings or lectures
Organize task lists
Draft blog entries and emails
Do brainstorming
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Right now mainly Nextcloud for task and kanban with Jtx and Deck on android.

For my knowledge markdown files edited with Quillpad, Zettlr, Tangent, Nextcloud …

That's not zero-knowledge but that's work for me and I feel that secure enough in my case for my daily life. :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

After many years of Org-mode, I've settled on Emacs Denote with a git repo of markdown files, paired with a paper bullet journal.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I'm curious why markdown works better for you?

I just switched to denote - liking the simple elegance.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

I stopped using the task management features of Org mode and I wanted to use Apache mod_markdown to view my notes when on a mobile device. I like how simple markdown is. It's all I need for notes. Denote is great for keeping organized.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

I’ve been using todo.txt for tasks for about a month now—it’s dead simple, supports all the bells and whistles you mentioned; and, with the topydo CLI, you can very easily make yourself a kanban interface using its columns UI. I sync the files with my iPhone and use Todooo on iOS, which works beautifully.

As for notes, I just write simple text files with my favorite editor. Maintaining complex systems of interconnected notes, I’ve found, most often does not pay off for the enormous time investment required (some specific use cases aside); tags, links, etc. I have all found to be superfluous—any kind of grep integration in the editor is all that’s needed for finding things. I write in either markdown or Typst, because basic Typst is essentially the same as markdown anyway, and because I’ve found it very useful to keep notes in the same format I write longer-form documents in.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

None. I'm used to Notion and unfortunately there's no OSS even getting close to that. I would like to move away, but even if I considered to lose my current base or move everything manually, there's nothing feature-rich enough to meet my use cases.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Taskwarrior

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