how-to-choose-software.md (4812B)
1 # How to Choose Software 2 3 TODO: Edit 4 TODO: Make this more focused / actionable 5 TODO: What even is my point? what even do I think? 6 TODO: I guess one thing I think is that you probably won't be happier with new things. 7 TODO: You probably are also wasting time, and you might be led back to where you started. 8 TODO: I'd also like some sort of flow chart for this. We shall see 9 TODO: Maybe say to build your own software? 10 11 ## Constraints 12 13 These are my opinions about software selection. I have been thinking about this extensively as of late because I was curious about what software existed to take notes, but this invariably led me back to where I started many years ago, vim. I have recently realized that left unbounded I will explore the same loops indefinitely. I have done this before. I last time I started with vim, used vim-wiki for ~1 years, tried nextcloud notes for a few hours, mediawiki for a few hours, logseq for a few hours, zettlr for a few hours, and circled back to vim, but this time with oil for filesystem manipulation. 14 15 This was basically the same loop I went through years ago as well. I had been using vim for a while, tried some other things, and went in almost an identical loop that time as well. This is because I have specific requirements for note taking software that constrains software I would consider trying. Such constraints are listed below: 16 17 1. Free software 18 2. Markdown only, no db 19 3. No data collection of any kind by default 20 - This includes auto-updating which you can't disable in qownnotes. 21 22 Beyond this, I have expectations of performance, but this is on a case by case basis, but was what originally led me away from nextcloud. I mention these constraints because I think they are a useful starting point for software selection. First, start by stating what you are not looking for. I find this to be easier than saying what I am looking for because there is potential for programs to provide functionality that is life-changing, but I would've never considered before. 23 24 ## What you want 25 26 I said saying what you want is hard, and it is, but there are some primitives you probably are interested in. A few primitives I wanted are listed below: 27 28 1. Ability to take MD notes with in-line LaTeX rendering 29 2. Standard MD format, no special formatting / syntax 30 3. Simple to configure without requiring adopting some ritualistic note taking practices 31 32 This was really it for me. 33 34 ## Where I went wrong 35 36 I went wrong by believing there could be something I hadn't ever thought of but would significantly alter my life. I have had the same issue with keyboards, programming languages, and software. Basically, there is this sense that there might be something better out there so I should always keep looking. In the end though, I use gateron clears, I write code mostly in C++, and I use vim, dwm, and tmux for basically all things computing related. 37 38 ## How to fight this 39 40 I haven't figured this out yet. I suspect I can fight this by asking myself the question, "What am I looking for to be better?". If I can't answer this question, I shouldn't continue searching. I still will probably continue looking, but this question seems to at least decrease my fervor. Another thing to consider is this; what software do you like? 41 42 For me, I like suckless software, generally. Knowing this, a simple heuristic for search is that of simplicity. Is there something that has less features than what I am using right now that doesn't remove the features I use? Or, is there something out there that has a feature I would use. This is again dangerous. 43 44 ## Never happy 45 46 You will never be happy with your software. You will always believe there might be something better out there. That is okay. Should you continue looking for it? That depends how much it matters to you. If this is somethign you enjoy, maybe. If this is something you get paid for, probably. If this is something you do and get some enjoyment out of, but is overall a distraction, probably not. The final category is the one I find myself in. There are so many things for me to study, research, and work on so spending time on these sorts of things, while slightly enjoyable, is often not worthwhile. 47 48 This leads me to conclude the following; stick with what you have. Select software that is simple and does one thing well. If you want more things, find single programs that add that to what you already have. If you want better note taking in some ways, use nb or vim-wiki. If you want a better editor frontend, find one, but don't try to find a program that does everything for you. This will invaraibly be too tall of an ask and will miss some things that others do better, but do some thingss better than others. There is no way to win except building everything from the bottom-up slowly and over time.