Why My Own PKM Software, Notenik, is Based on Text Files
I recently read with some interest a new post titled “Why I Don’t Believe in PKMs based on Plain Text Files,” authored by my fellow medium writer Paco Cantero.
He makes the case for storing your notes — information, personal knowledge, whatever — in a database, rather than in plain text files.
He recalls the inflection point at which databases speeded up technology, and says he’s rarely looked back since.
As someone who has worked as a computing professional for many decades — including lots of serious work on corporate database systems — I share many of Paco’s memories.
And so, I’ve often asked myself — why did I choose to write my own PKM application using plain text files, instead of a nice database system?
Your mileage may vary, but here are the things that came down for me on the plain text side of the scales.
1. I’m a Scribbler.
I’m a writer. I like to write. I write all sorts of things. Sometimes I’m just jotting something down so I can recall it later, and sometimes I’m writing a piece that I hope others will still find worth reading a hundred years from now. And sometimes a piece of info that starts in that first category gradually evolves into the second one. And I don’t…
