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Emacs Org-mode - a system for note-taking and project planning

Google TechTalks · talk · Watch on YouTube

Testing, debugging & developer toolsProductivity & self-improvement

What it is

A 2008 Google Tech Talk by the creator of Org-mode, introducing the Emacs subsystem for plain-text note-taking and project planning. It covers outlines, TODO states, tags, dates and priorities, and later shows using Org-mode as a spreadsheet.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN regards it as the best introduction and advertisement for Org-mode, and many say it was enough to get them started with it.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 5 different months
  • 2 strong recommendations
  • first 2009, last 2024

What HN commenters said

  1. “The best advertisement for org-mode I've seen is this long Google Tech Talk”

    Best advertisement for org-mode in concrete use

    baddox, 2011-04 · Strong recommendation · in “Grokking Org-mode and putting it in charge”

  2. “for me the Google Tech Talk was enough to get me started and convince me I should use it”

    Talk was enough to get started and convince them to use org-mode

    BeetleB, 2020-09 · Strong recommendation · in “Toward a “modern” Emacs”

  3. “There's actually a pretty good video from its creator that shows you the main features”

    Org-mode creator demos main features

    aduric, 2009-07 · Recommendation · in “HN: I just started my own company, any recommended task management software?”

  4. “This Google talk[0] was pretty handy to get familiar with org.”

    Handy talk for getting familiar with org-mode

    RMPR, 2020-12 · Recommendation · in “Measuring "efficiency" in document prepration: Microsoft Word vs. LaTex”

  5. “See the original Google talk by org-mode creator [1]. At some point 30 minutes or so, he explains how to use org-mode as a spreadsheet.”

    Creator explains using org-mode as a spreadsheet around 30 minutes in

    emporas, 2024-03 · Recommendation · in “Scientists rename genes to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: org-mode, emacs, note-taking, task management, plain text

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