For me one of the most flexible and mature way to knowledge base, tasks and notes is an org-mode.
I have two main workflows. The first one is task management. I have a lot of recurring tasks with tags, deadlines, schedules, etc. All of them are living in org-files in my Nextcloud. On Android I'm using orgzly-reviwed for sync via WebDAV, on my work I'm using organice (via WebDAV) as a "web-version" and also I'm editing my notes in emacs on my laptop (but actually any text editor could be used).
The second one is a knowledge base. I'm using org-roam locally (and with a localhost web server, built in into emacs) and orgnote for Android/Web + synchronization. My knowledge base is Zettelkasten-based.
Orgzly-reviewed: https://github.com/orgzly-revived/orgzly-android-revived
Organice: https://github.com/200ok-ch/organice
Orgnote: https://github.com/Artawower/orgnote
Orgnote provide a way to encrypt all notes by your own key/password. With orgzly I'm relying on Nextcloud encryption.
The org.pdf documentation is 300 pages long O_O ! https://orgmode.org/org.pdf
Simple, spin up a Stirling PDF docker, split the org docs and create org notes either by section or by page, linking to the relevant PDF page
Now you've practiced using org mode by documenting org mode in org mode using your own words based off the org mode documentation
I keep failing to make Zettelkasten and org-roam work for me. Do you use a single knowledge base for your whole life, with millions of tags and pages? Or should I be making separate directories for each project? Is the "daily journal" the best place to put everything, with well tagged entries?
You don't have to answer all of those!
Honestly, whatever works for you.
My preferred system is two big directories, one for your daily notes (dailies, journal, etc), and another for literally everything else.
This is how logseq is implemented, and can easily setup emacs org-roam to do it too. It's very nice because you don't need to worry about where to put something, throw it in your daily journals and get all the info down there, and link densely. If it's about a specific topic, link to it and when you go to that topic you'll see the info in the back links below (logseq does it automatically, emacs take a bit of config). You can then transcribe the important/summary/etc info from all of your aggregated back links into a single well thought out and planned document, or at least a single trimmed down one. Or, just leave all the info in the back links, whatever works best for you
Logseq, kept up to date on all my devices with Syncthing
I can't understand Logseq, even though it seems appealing. I haven't gone too deep yet but to me it feels weird that they say it's simple and then their documentation is confusing and full of videos explaining how it works. That seems far from simple.
I manage my entire life with Logseq. Syncing is done via github, since I have nothing to hide there. I would recommend setting up your own gitlab server instead.
Although not open source, I use Obsidian since its really extensible, works completely local and has open source extensions. I thought about using Logseq too. I'd never trust Microsoft with my personal notes tho.
I’ve loved Obsidian since I started using it.
If I moved to OSS, it looks like Logseq would be closest.
There's Trilium-Next too, I've been trying it for a day or so and it floats my boat better than logseq so far. My notebook is on QOwnNotes right now, it's fantastic but on the simpler side
I think I have a good one for you. You are probably familiar with Linear, a JIRA alternative. Well here's pretty much a FOSS clone: https://github.com/makeplane/plane
I self-host, and since the one thing I dont like is it's document library, I pair it with self-hosted Outline: https://github.com/outline/outline
Combined it's a really solid setup.
Many have mentioned org-mode. I used it for years but have moved on to todo.txt and markdown. I use syncthing to keep notes up to date on my phone and computer. I edit with whatever is available on my desktop and I use markor notes on my phone.
I think this setup only lacks the recurring tasks option. I think org-mode can do that but I use my calendar for that.
This is a highly personal topic so I'd suggest trying as many things as you can. Something will stick eventually.
I used to do this, but todo.txt is a dead format now unfortunately, the maintainers left a long time ago. Tasks.org is where its at, open-source, sync how you want, tagging, recurring tasks.
I use Joplin, there's desktop and mobile clients, sync with your own WebDAV server and you've a Kanban plugin. It also does checklists, tables and all the stuff people like. Stores everything in markdown so that's a win.
Same, only I self-host a Joplin server. I have yet to find something that's nearly as versatile with so little effort.
Hmm... besides note sharing what's the advantage of the server over WebDAV? I kina picked WebDAV because I already had the infrastructure in place for other things, and let's face it, it is a piece of cake to get nginx run a WebDAV server.
Webdav is a great option too. I don't know that it's a question of advantage so mush as a matter of preference, honestly. I just like to have my services as segregated as possible. I use Radicale for contacts and calendar. That way, if radicale fails, I lost my ability to sync those, but get to keep syncing my notes and such, if Joplin fails, I lost that ability but my calendars and contacts still sync. I also share a lot of notes, lists and stuff like that with my wife, which makes it easier.
What I have in terms of self-hosted over 14 different services in ProxMox could have been solved by having a simple Nextcloud instance, but I feel nextcloud is overkill for my needs, and if it fails, all my services fail, so I moved away from it about 6 months ago or so.
by having a simple Nextcloud instance, but I feel nextcloud is overkill for my needs, and if it fails,
I do like to keep things separate as well and Nextcloud is an ongoing source of issues and a piece of shit a software. Since I don't share notes I find WebDAV to be good enough and simple enough not to fail.
My setup is mostly Syncthing, FileBrowser, Baikal, Joplin, FreshRSS, WebDAV (for a bunch of those and as a way to have mobile access to the Syncthing/FileBrowser data. Simple and realiable.
Our infrastructure seems pretty similar, except for the Radicale/Baikal part. I also have a Kavita instance, Vaultwarden, Frigate, Stirling Pdf, Immich (but I'm seriously thinking of dropping it as it sucks resources like crazy and tends to break often with very large libraries) and an instance of Wazuh to make sure I have as little potential vulnerabilities as possible in hosts and docker containers.
My wife says I spend too much time playing with my servers and network, but that keeps me home instead of outside, so you would think that's a good thing 🤣
Zim
Its amazing. I keep my whole life in there. Also has tons of plugins that probably meet your tasks needs.
I store it in an a encrypted luks volume that I upload to the cloud, so its zero knowledge on all the clouds.
Zim really is amazing, its the perfect balance with its simple plain text files in folders data structure, but powerful search and back linking. And I love linking to other files on the local file system.
How do you do the LUKS volume upload to cloud? Is it for syncing between devices or just backup? Personally I use (self hosted) NextCloud to sync my Zim between devices.
I've enjoyed Zim in the past but not being able to access it on mobile caused me to migrate. Do you have a way to access your notes on the go?
I've always used joplin mobile for notes and vikunja for tasks and reminders. Vikunja has projects and labels for organizing tasks, and supports list, table, kanban, and a timeline view. There's a paid version (for corporations, I think) at https://vikunja.io/, but there are loads of other free to use instances. I personally use https://todo.projectsegfau.lt/. Edit: I wholeheartedly hope you at least try vikunja https://try.vikunja.io/, because it's one of my most used and beloved services.
Tasks.org for tasks and Joplin for notes. Both can be synced with various technologies.
Vim with markdown
LogSec is really nice and flexible.
I use the app opentask. Based on your criteria, it's exactly what you're looking for. It's all stored locally on your phone, it has the ability to set recurring tasks, and you can create categories of preset and custom tasks. Deadlines can be set as far into the future as you need, down to the minute. It's available on F-Droid.
Right now mainly Nextcloud for task and kanban with Jtx and Deck on android.
For my knowledge markdown files edited with Quillpad, Zettlr, Tangent, Nextcloud …
That's not zero-knowledge but that's work for me and I feel that secure enough in my case for my daily life. :)
Org mode on my laptop, don't see any need for anything else.
Zim Wiki https://zim-wiki.org/
Desktop wiki, saving to .md text files, can commit to git repo and has basic task handling.
Perfect for me.
Zim can be used to:
Keep an archive of notes
Keep a daily or weekly journal
Take notes during meetings or lectures
Organize task lists
Draft blog entries and emails
Do brainstorming
I just use Zettlr (a markdown editor optimized for writing research papers). I wish it wasn't an electron app, as it's paggy as hell sometimes on Linux, but it's the best balance I've found between features, ease of use, and stability.
I use SuperProductivity. It works really well. You can keep track of how much time you spend on individual tasks and I sync it to my nas server so it's synced on my phone, desktop, laptop
None. I'm used to Notion and unfortunately there's no OSS even getting close to that. I would like to move away, but even if I considered to lose my current base or move everything manually, there's nothing feature-rich enough to meet my use cases.
After many years of Org-mode, I've settled on Emacs Denote with a git repo of markdown files, paired with a paper bullet journal.
I'm curious why markdown works better for you?
I just switched to denote - liking the simple elegance.
Taskwarrior
I've never found a use for any of this. I only utilise a calendar. How complicated are your people's lives?
I'll take the bait if no one else will.
A calendar is useful for one thing: pinning events that will happen at a known time and being reminded of when they are about to start.
If you need to keep extensive notes on projects, understand how late or accelerated tasks will impact other dates, break down work into steps, track progress on a project or individual task, create lists, map ideas, inventory items, archive knowledge, or sketch workflows, a calendar is worthless.
I’ve been using todo.txt for tasks for about a month now—it’s dead simple, supports all the bells and whistles you mentioned; and, with the topydo CLI, you can very easily make yourself a kanban interface using its columns UI. I sync the files with my iPhone and use Todooo on iOS, which works beautifully.
As for notes, I just write simple text files with my favorite editor.
Maintaining complex systems of interconnected notes, I’ve found, most often does not pay off for the enormous time investment required (some specific use cases aside); tags, links, etc. I have all found to be superfluous—any kind of grep
integration in the editor is all that’s needed for finding things.
I write in either markdown or Typst, because basic Typst is essentially the same as markdown anyway, and because I’ve found it very useful to keep notes in the same format I write longer-form documents in.
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