The first version was the amazing <ahref="https://vimwiki.github.io/">vimwiki</a>, a system simple and elegant.
It provided most of the features needed for a zettelkasten, and supported standard markdown.
During this period I grew comfortable with Vim, which I consider <i>the</i> premier editing experience.
</p>
<p>
I began to use <ahref="https://taskwarrior.org/">Taskwarrior</a>, an amazing command-line task management tool.
<ahref="https://github.com/tools-life/taskwiki">Taskwiki</a> is another amazing vim extension that maps tasks between vimwiki and taskwarrior, allowing you to create "viewports" with various Taskwarrior filters.
The combination of Vimwiki and Taskwarrior is exceptionally comfortable, and taught me my first important lesson: <i>tasks</i> and <i>data</i> are inseparable.
It is impossible to provide sufficient information to do a task if that task is separated from its context, its data and metadata.
</p>
<p>
Eventually I grew tired of the limitations of editing text in a terminal.
Vim doesn't support graphical things very well, and I wanted to view images inside my notes.
While various extensions solve this problem, and adjacent problems, I had at this time noticed <ahref="https://www.dendron.so/">dendron</a>.
Dendron features a mixed hierarchical/networked note setup, which (according to the creators) scales well with heavy use.
While I still have not reached the ~10k note count that the authors asserted Dendron would survive, the structure appealed to me because at the time I was working with several sorts of knowledge that a hierarchy represents well–things like programming language concepts in multiple languages.
Dendron also features a note-graph, which represents both the hierarchy of notes and the links between notes.
This feature was most attractive to me, as inside Vim I was having trouble visualizing my entire zettelkasten.
</p>
<p>
Overall, the featureset provided enough value that I made the change.
I adapted all of my vimwiki links (or most!) to Dendron's format, and began to implement some of Dendron's more advanced features in my daily use.
I installed VSCode and a Vim emulation plugin, and away I went.
</p>
<p>
The first snag I ran into was the limitations of Vim emulation plugins, so I switched that plugin to <ahref="https://github.com/vscode-neovim/vscode-neovim">vscode-neovim</a>, which embeds neovim into VSCode.
I learned a value here: closer to Vim is more comfortable.
Vim truly allows you to "edit text at the speed of thought".
Its modal paradigm turns the keyboard into a uniquely fluid control panel, optimized for text editing.
Extensions often miss features or have subtle bugs.
The closer I can get to actual Vim, the more comfortable I am when it is time to edit.
After Vim emulation, VSCode+Dendron's most significant problem was its lack of serious todo functionality.
Taskwarrior and its sister program Timewarrior had previously handled my todo lists, while Vimwiki handled documentation and project management.
Dendron had no such extension.
VSCode's slow startup time wore at me, and I decided I didn't appreciate all of the higher-order features of Dendron.
Additionally, around this time development on Dendron ceased, and while the project leader declared it good enough to manage his personal projects, several rough edges and missing features took away from its initial promise.
</p>
<p>
I switched to Vim again for a short time, and tried to find plugins to piece together some of Dendron's features while avoiding the pain points.
Around this time I discovered another innovation, "Emacs Org-mode."
<ahref="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzA2YODtgK4">This video</a> by Harry Schwartz from thoughtbot showed up in my feed.
Reluctantly, I watched it.
After seeing the power of Org-mode I decided to give it a try.
Emacs' power and scriptability far outstrips everything that Vim had to offer, and Evil mode satisfies my desire for Vim's editing model.
</p>
<p>
Emacs also handles task management.
The default org-mode todo manager is fine, but with the addition of <ahref="https://www.nongnu.org/org-edna-el/">edna</a> for better dependency management and <ahref="https://gist.github.com/d12frosted/a60e8ccb9aceba031af243dff0d19b2e">d12frosted's</a> little hack for todo-items in hundreds of files, it becomes much easier to manage projects spread across a zettelkasten of knowledge.
<ahref="https://www.orgroam.com/">org-roam</a> is the final piece of the puzzle, integrating the best of ID-based linking and backlink features into emacs.
<h3id="finish-up-this-post"><spanclass="done DONE">DONE</span> Finish up this post</h3>
<divclass="outline-text-3">
<p>
Org-mode provides far too many features to cover here, but suffice it to say I am very happy with this setup.
I have complete freedom to do anything I need to do, all in plain-text, all with an easily-hackable and infinitely customizeable interface.
</p>
<p>
It has many issues, and I'll put out another blog post some day detailing the problems I've encountered so far, along with what I have as far as mitigations.
Despite the issues, I heartily recommend Emacs to anyone looking for the ultimate endgame in text-editing capability.
</p>
<p>
Other editors are great. VSCode is easy to use, Vim is wicked fast, and Neovim is great.
Emacs is superior in extensibility, it is superior in user-focus, and it is ultimately the most comfortable editor I've ever used.
If you think you can handle the learning curve, I invite you to dive in.
</p>
<p>
At the least, don't waste as much time as I did trying to find the perfect setup.
I began using git around halfway through my wiki process.
I wasn't very familiar with it when I began, but I've come to value it as a part of my daily workflow.
It certainly makes data recovery easy, and coupled with a personal <ahref="https://git.freedomland.xyz/judahsotomayor">gitea</a> instance it allows me to back up and access my projects from anywhere.
<pubDate>Thu, 21 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
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