Earlier, I wrote…
Org-mode Island is beautiful, but lonely.
Jeremy Friesen reacted to my post with his own thoughtful take on the isolation of using Org-mode:
Amongst the Org-Mode Archipelago // Take on Rules
Org-Mode is my home hearth. Here I prepare my food. And sometimes I bring that food, wrapped up for transport, to a public place so that I might share. On a few occasions, I bring partially prepared ingredients and throw them in the collaboration soup; where we churn the ladel together.
I’m alone during my Org-Mode usage, but I don’t feel lonely in being here.
I quite like that, and it made me think about what I meant by “lonely”. Using Org-mode pretty much requires that I also use Emacs. I love Emacs, but I love other apps, too, and often like to change what I use. With Org-mode, that’s not feasible.
So, maybe “isolated” or “lonely” aren’t the right words for how I’m feeling. Maybe it’s “restricted” or “confined”. Maybe it’s not “Org-mode Island” making me feel lonely, but rather “Emacs Prison” making me feel trapped 😅.
This is a hot topic for me right now, as I’ve spent the past couple of days in my usual year-end frenzy of “what should I be using for notes/tasks/journals?!”. Should I go all-in on paper? Should I just use Apple’s default apps? Should I use best-in-class apps like DEVONthink or Tinderbox or OmniFocus?
What I’ve realized is exactly what Jeremy said, Org-mode is where I live and I’m comfortable there. I’m staying.