Re:Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
by interlocutor on Sunday January 06, 2019 @10:00AM
(#18838619)
The problem with OneNote is that its file format is proprietary (though documented). I have random notes that are 20 years old. Notes I take today need to be readable 20 years from now. Will OneNote be around 20 years from now? I prefer to store my notes in plain text because it is guaranteed to be readable decades from now.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
by theshrike79 on Sunday January 06, 2019 @10:36AM
(#18838788)
Do you intend to restore today's backup of your OneNote files with a copy of OneNote 2039? It might work or might not.
But if you keep using OneNote for the next 20 years, I can guarantee that it won't suddenly implode and suddently make all your notes unreadable by anything else.
Also the format is open and documented: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_OneNote#File_format
Re:Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
by mark_l_watson on Monday January 07, 2019 @06:52AM
(#18844468)
You can export an entire notebook, or individual notes to PDF. PDF is easily converted to text so there is one way to archive.
I had stopped using Apple Notes because the format was a proprietary binary format with no export feature. When I found an app to export as text I went back to using Notes.