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This pops up on HN regularly. Was extensively discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25398027 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25398027 Interest

by ktpsns 3y ago

This pops up on HN regularly. Was extensively discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25398027 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25398027 Interestingly, we have a similar "BASIC line numbering" system in our company. Allows for easy traversing the directories if you can remember the numbers (I cannot), such as "05_Contracts/15_Employees/041_John_Doe/07_Testemonies".

jmiskovic 3y ago
First time I heard of it. I like how simple the core concept is explained, but I feel it would box me into categories when I like tags more (categorizing items in multiple orthogonal domains). OTOH maybe well thought-out categories would bring more structure than tags. My current notes strategy is to prefix the date to markdown filenames (for example '2023-05-31 canvas scan transform matrix.md') and put them into single dir. These are active journal-style notes that I'm free to update over next days while they are still in focus. Every few weeks the list of nodes gets busy and I 'archive' older notes into sub-dirs (personal, hobby project, work project) and backup the whole structure. The method requires minimal maintenance and the full text search works well for my needs. Edit: I like how the author leverages the CLI auto-completion and I try to do the same, but I think Johnny would work against my brain. When naming the directory or a script, I put myself in mind frame where I'd want to use it and I'm trying to recall its name. So I give semantic names like 'build-android.sh'. If it's a new thing I try to come up with a short catchy name for it. Having to recall the `10-19` category each time I want to access specific subscope seems like too much cognitive burden. Just theorizing, haven't given it a shot so far.
f1shy 3y ago
Where I work we do use that structure. I can never find anything. For me remembering the numbers is as remembering IPs instead of URLs. The problem is not the naming of the directories, the problem is that the next idea after “johnny decimal” was to make a standard structure. Because this structure has to serve the full company, is HUGE! So irrespective of project or area size, you have an structure of 10 levels with 30 directories in each level. The names are very generic, and sooner or later somebody has a different interpretation of where document X should be placed… we have lost days searching for lost documents…

by ktpsns 3y ago

jmiskovic 3y ago

First time I heard of it. I like how simple the core concept is explained, but I feel it would box me into categories when I like tags more (categorizing items in multiple orthogonal domains). OTOH maybe well thought-out categories would bring more structure than tags. My current notes strategy is to prefix the date to markdown filenames (for example '2023-05-31 canvas scan transform matrix.md') and put them into single dir. These are active journal-style notes that I'm free to update over next days while they are still in focus. Every few weeks the list of nodes gets busy and I 'archive' older notes into sub-dirs (personal, hobby project, work project) and backup the whole structure. The method requires minimal maintenance and the full text search works well for my needs. Edit: I like how the author leverages the CLI auto-completion and I try to do the same, but I think Johnny would work against my brain. When naming the directory or a script, I put myself in mind frame where I'd want to use it and I'm trying to recall its name. So I give semantic names like 'build-android.sh'. If it's a new thing I try to come up with a short catchy name for it. Having to recall the `10-19` category each time I want to access specific subscope seems like too much cognitive burden. Just theorizing, haven't given it a shot so far.

f1shy 3y ago

Where I work we do use that structure. I can never find anything. For me remembering the numbers is as remembering IPs instead of URLs. The problem is not the naming of the directories, the problem is that the next idea after “johnny decimal” was to make a standard structure. Because this structure has to serve the full company, is HUGE! So irrespective of project or area size, you have an structure of 10 levels with 30 directories in each level. The names are very generic, and sooner or later somebody has a different interpretation of where document X should be placed… we have lost days searching for lost documents…