[DM-MUG] Various product reviews, primarily of note takers and organizers

[kristau]

On 6/21/07, Victoria L. Herring <vlh at herringlaw.com> wrote:
> why would one want to use a Wiki versus something else and is this
> resident on your computer or web?

Whereas most PIM tools and other note taking utilities usually have a
driving philosophy behind their design (such as Getting Things Done or
Franklin Planner), a wiki is truly a blank canvas.  Therefore, it can
take a good amount of self-discipline to make sure things stay
organized, but you can also adapt your productivity philosophy of
choice into the way you build your wiki.  In that sense, a personal
wiki could blend several different philosophies together to create
your own customized productivity method, or it could strictly adhere
to a particular method (if your self discipline holds out).

My MoinDesktop wiki resides on my two laptops, which I sync up each
time I change the content.  That way, I've got the same content on
both laptops and it is backed up by virtue of the syncing.  I do need
to be careful I don't make changes on both systems before I sync, or I
will lose the changes from one of them -- a problem that could be
overcome by setting up a wiki server.

A wiki really is best if it is housed on a server so you can have
multiple people contribute content (ala Wikipedia).  At work, I'm
using it primarily as a documentation tool for our IT infrastructure.
It is a one-person show now, but when I get help hired I will be able
to better share my knowledge and learn from my coworkers when they
contribute their own solutions to the mix.

On my personal computers, I'm using it similarly to keep track of
computer information such as hardware, serial numbers and
configuration changes.  I'm also using it to keep my own notes at
meetings such as the DMMUG and CIALUG gatherings.  For now, these are
all in the same wiki, but if any of them grow I could split them out
into their own, dedicated wiki or export them to a server.

I'd be willing to share what I know about wikis, answer some questions
and demonstrate my desktop wiki at a meeting some time.

-- 
Tired programmer
Coding late into the night
The core dump follows

My GNUPG public key is available at http://www.kristau.net/public_key.asc