slightly OT - journal or project tracking app query

[Chuck Swiger]

Louis LeBlanc wrote:
[ ... ]
> As many of you know, it's very easy to get a complex system set up and
> then promptly forget how you did it.  Many people solve this problem
> by an unorthodox method known as "Documentation".  Many of the people
> I've come behind have been woefully unfamiliar with this practice, and
> I'm the one left with the shovel.

When you are in a hole, the first rule is to stop digging.  :-)

I've found that placing machine configuration information into a CVS 
repository, possibly with something like a file called /etc/motd, or 
/etc/ChangeLog, or something which is updated to describe what the machine is 
doing, serves the purpose.  Having a copy of `pkg_info` is useful, too.

[ ... ]
> Well, I've been looking for a decent journaling app, and can't find
> anything in the ports flagged by the word "journal".
> 
> I don't need a big fancy project application, but something that can
> be easily paged or collated by day or project would be fantastic.  In
> a perfect world, said app would work with an external editor, or use
> Vim-ish key bindings.  Failing the existence of such an application,
> I'll have to devise my own organizational method and just go with vim
> until I can work something useful out.

How about changelog mode in Emacs?

"Change Log mode:
Major mode for editing change logs; like Indented Text Mode.
Prevents numeric backups and sets `left-margin' to 8 and `fill-column' to 74.
New log entries are usually made with M-x add-change-log-entry or C-x 4 a.
Each entry behaves as a paragraph, and the entries for one day as a page.
Runs `change-log-mode-hook'.
^L
auto-fill-function minor mode (indicator Fill):
Automatically break line at a previous space, in insertion of text."

#ifdef HUMOR
Obligatory vi-bashing: I hear that Emacs even offers the vi-impaired a 
compatibility mode called vim.
#endif

-- 
-Chuck