Roam Patrol!

Posted by bartb
Oct 13, 2020 at 11:09 PM

Thanks Simon! You’ve given me a lot to think about concerning file formats and using multiple apps to store data. I thought DEVONthink might be a good solution for me (and still might be). But I never considered a Foxtrot Search type approach. I need to explore this option more.

Simon wrote:
I think there is also an element that people have always wanted to be
>able to see which notes they have made that relate to other notes they
>have made. The Zettelkasten idea is extremely powerful. What these new
>applications add is the behind the scenes connections. I keep making
>notes and the software connects the ideas. When I click on one note I
>can immediately see all other notes that link to this topic. Many used
>to do this with wikis but they became cumbersome to maintain. Even the
>venerable Tinderbox requires too much coding to make this happen for the
>average punter.
> >I do think there is a definite information overload. Do I really need to
>track every breakfast I’ve had? Or for that matter every thought I’ve
>had?
> >The big issue for me is that if you’re long enough in the tooth you may
>have amassed quite a mound of information and it’s having it all in one
>place in something that allows ease of creation plus ease of finding
>what you need when you need it. I CRIMP less these days as I’m tired of
>transferring information (it’s easy to lose creation dates, tags, labels
>and contexts) and worse I hate it if I have to look in 5 different apps
>for that note I made.
> >My best discovery this past year is Foxtrot Pro search. I moved all my
>data out of DEVONthink and it now sits in folders and Foxtrot serves up
>what I need in second. I’m slowly building my own repository in my own
>folders, which also means it’s easy to migrate should the need arise
>(and at Apple’s continuing extortionate prices, this may be a reality).
>I have way too many proprietary documents that need conversion to a more
>open format, but with a solid file naming convention and a good search,
>I’m fairly happy. Apps like Obsidian are more for shorter notes than
>meeting minutes, or perhaps apps for developing ideas and processing
>through data.