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Suggestions for development of cross-platform Linux Outliner Note-taking software
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Posted by Carrot
Sep 4, 2009 at 04:52 AM
Hi
We are a group of developers interested in producing feature-rich cross-platform note-taking application.
Out initial idea is that it would include many of the features of applications like MyBase, Surfulator but perhaps allow the flexible positioning of notes on a page like in BasketNotes or OneNote.
In addition to having standard note-taking functions (assigning notes in a tree-like structure) that is being able to capture entire or partial selections of web pages, and have the ability to add notes about the webclippings.
We envisage that the base version of the software will be open-source and free. A paid pro version will help pay for the high cost of developing the program.
Suggestions on the following would be very much appreciated:
- features you would like to see
- features you hope that we will AVOID :)
- practical considerations regarding building a robust application.
Posted by Tom S.
Sep 5, 2009 at 03:34 PM
Carrot wrote:
>Out initial idea is that it would include
>many of the features of applications like MyBase, Surfulator but perhaps allow the
>flexible positioning of notes on a page like in BasketNotes or OneNote.
>
>In addition
>to having standard note-taking functions (assigning notes in a tree-like
>structure) that is being able to capture entire or partial selections of web pages,
>and have the ability to add notes about the webclippings.
>
>We envisage that the base
>version of the software will be open-source and free. A paid pro version will help pay
>for the high cost of developing the program.
>
>Suggestions on the following would be
>very much appreciated:
>
>- features you would like to see
Since no one else has chimed in on this I will throw out a response. The applications that you cited above are a good start. All are generally positively reviewed.
I will add a few more considerations.
Most of us here very fondly remember Lotus Agenda and Grandview and like Ecco a great deal. All of these had one thing in common. It was extremely easy to apply custom characteristics, literally transforming any input into any type of item desired. For instance, an email could become an appointment with the click of a mouse button and a choice of date. Any “tag” or folder could be applied with a checkbox. Most of us associate this in modern applications with the use of “columns”. Omnioutliner is a good example of a program which incorporates this and my understanding is that SQLNotes does so, too.
Another thing is that I don’t *think* that any of the programs you cited have PIM functions. Perhaps this is beyond your vision but a calendar widget and a standard form for contacts is awfully handy to have.
One last consideration - the ability to access information on mobile phones is becoming increasingly important.
Tom S.
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Sep 5, 2009 at 05:08 PM
First of all, let me say that I find it very interesting that a programmer contacts this forum for advice prior to commencing their software’s development. As far as I know this is the first time that such an approach has been taken. Mostly, developers appear in this forum when the core functionality has been produced; by then it is too late to suggest structural enhancements. So I consider this a great opportunity and I will happily take it. Find below a first round of suggestions:
- Development platform: Sometime ago I had written here that IMHO applications, if they are to compete in the contemporary environment, they will be soon expected to be (a) cross-platform, including mobile clients, and (b) web-aware, i.e. providing a web client / web backup or sync. I would suggest that you take a look at Nokia’s new QT platform or other IDE that can build applications with such functionalities.
- Core concept: There are some excellent Windows-only or Apple-only applications that are not available for other platforms and are not expected to anytime soon; a cross platform outliner with similar functionalities could well become quite popular. My own favourites (in Windows) include Surfulater, which you mentioned, UltraRecall and InfoQube/SQL notes. The core concept in these programs is similar and very powerful: information items are database objects and can be organised both on a hierarchical tree and independently through tags. This allows the user a lot of flexibility on how to go about structuring their information. An important functionality here is clones or virtual copies of info items, so that one can can include them in various folders of the tree simultaneously.
- Business model: I am a strong of the ‘freemium’ approach and am a paying user/subscriber of several applications following such an approach. Be aware that there’s a lot of competition and you’ll have to offer something quite advantageous to expect a noteworthy income. This should be especially true in the Linux world, where users are rather spoilt. I would expect a cross-platform program like that to be very valuable in businees, where you could also sell support contracts.
- Interconnectivity: one of the most important deciding factors for me is the ability to easily get data in and out an application. For getting it in: grab from the web, paste in various formats (text, image, RTF/HTML), monitoring the clipboard For getting it out: XML export along with related stylesheets (web export), access to the database, CSV export, export tree structure as folder structure with info items as files etc.
I (and most others I imagine) could go on for ages with desired features, but ultimately you should define your own vision and develop your program’s competitive advantages around that vision. What you will leave out is as important as what you’ll include. For example: a powerful editing environment is very important to many users, but providing it may mean significant development resources. Instead, you could opt for directly editing your content through freely available external editors such as Open Office.
Within this context, I’d like to add a suggestion for a functionality that I am surprised I’ve yet to see, given that SQL lies at the heart of many such programs: the ability to directly publish selected content through popular php/mySQL CMS platforms. This could be a powerful competitive advantage, as it means that one doesn’t need to use a web interface to re-organise already structured content. The closest I’ve seen to this is Evernote’s Shared Notebooks and The Journal’s Blog Publish feature.
That’s it for the moment; wishing you beforehand all the best in your venture.
Alexander
Posted by Jack Crawford
Sep 5, 2009 at 10:11 PM
May I add one other concept to Alexander’s excellent list - portability. A note taking application must be able to run independently on portable devices such as external USB drives.
A question if I may: what is driving your development plans? Potential commercial opportunity, research project, personal “hobby” interest ..... etc What are you hoping to achieve? This would help in setting the context and then identifying possible features.
Thanks for asking in the first place.
Jack
Posted by Carrot
Sep 7, 2009 at 09:03 AM
Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions.
Our idea is to make the application as open source as possible, in order to attract the trust and confidence of users.
Do you believe there is a need for this type of software? A market? An opportunity for us to do something good, make something good? (and not go broke :)
Our technical team (which I am not part of) will carefully examine OneNote and try to figure out if its features are difficult to implement. I used it intensively several years ago and liked it very much prior to my switch to Linux.
I am very impressed with InfoQube as well. (despite finding it quite difficult to learn) Do you think it would be better to go with:
- a more simple OneNote style application (I assume the way it stores data makes it accessible to the user is simpler than the InfoQube/ ECCO model,
- an Surfulator/ InfoQube/ ECCO model in which information items are database objects and can be organized both on a hierarchical tree and independently through tags. Users have a lot of flexibility regarding structuring their information.
Again, all suggestions will be appreciated. We don’t really have a very strong commercial/ profit motive in making this software- we want to make a full featured open-source note-taker for Linux (as our main goal but also cross-platform) just don’t want to go broke doing it.