[maemo-developers] Tags based todo application - a call for participation

[From: Murray Cumming]

Onne Gorter's existing maemo-todo application seems to be much the same
as what you are suggesting:
http://tech.inhelsinki.nl/2007-02-25/

On Fri, 2007-03-30 at 00:22 +0100, Mathieu Boespflug wrote:
> Hi list,
> 
> A few weeks ago I started writing some code for a new todo application
> specifically for the Maemo platform that is lightweight and tuned for
> fast usage, but powerful and flexible enough that it can cope with
> rather complicated organizational needs. I've made a Google SoC
> application relating to it, extracts of which I'm attaching below.
> 
> I would like to get some input on the usefulness of such an
> application, what you would like to see it do, and perhaps comments on
> the design presented in the GSoC application. My personal goals for
> this kind of thing is for it to work really well with David Allen's
> "Getting Things Done" methodology, but obviously different GUI
> frontends supporting other methodologies could easily be supported!
> 
> Also, Quim has asked me if I could try finding a mentor for this
> project. I take it there isn't any at the moment. Any takers?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mathieu
> 
>   ====
> 
> I propose to write a contextual todo application making extensive use
> of tags and filters, tailored for use as a supporting tool for the
> "Getting Things Done" methodology by David Allen.
> 
> * Motivation
> 
> There currently exists a handful of applications on Maemo to keep
> track of "todo" items. These range from the simple note taker to the
> specialized but simple GPE-Todo. On the desktop however, there are
> literally hundreds of applications for organizing tasks, from
> command-line tools to web applications. Many of the web applications
> are ill-suited for use in Maemo because of the relative lack of
> responsiveness of the Opera navigator on the Nokia N800 device and
> because many make heavy use of Ajax. Likewise, most GUI desktop
> applications are not designed for an embedded setting, are expensive
> in terms of resources or runtime dependencies, or lack features.
> 
> I propose to write a modular todo application written from the ground
> up for Maemo in C that integrates well with user interface and other
> applications on the platform. For convenience and particularly because
> of the limited input capabilities of embedded devices, ideally such an
> application would be capable of semi-automatic task creation, such as
> automatically creating a task when emails matching a certain pattern
> arrive in the Inbox of the mail client. Or a new entry is made in the
> calendaring application.
> 
> * The Project
> 
> The project consists of at least two components.
> 
> The core component is a simple wrapper around a storage facility for
> general todo items. It's role is to connect to the system D-Bus bus
> and listen for signals from various applications, creating new todo
> items in reaction to such signals if deemed necessary. The storage
> facility would probably be an SQL table to allow for flexible an
> efficient filtering over the data and constructing complex queries.
> 
> A number of simple components can then be built on top of this core
> facility. A home applet with a single text field could be used to
> collect rough notes quickly. A larger dedicated application should
> also be implemented to view all items in the database, organize them
> and add new ones. Such an application would ideally allow for easy use
> of the GTD method, notably by separating "collection", "processing"
> and "organization" phases, but be flexible enough that other ways of
> working are possible too.
> 
> The system can be made very flexible and arbitrarily extensible by the
> user. Beyond the generic notion of an "item", very little needs to
> hardcoded. The system could allow for arbitrary terms (or tags) from
> various "vocabularies" to be attached to any given item. The
> vocabularies are arbitrary and new ones can be added at will. Examples
> of vocabularies include "status", "projects", "context". Terms for
> each of these would be "done", "new car", "at home", respectively.
> Prepared queries can then be defined to generate lists of items that
> contain some arbitrary combination of terms for one or more
> vocabularies.
> 
> Of course, this project is a unique opportunity to gather extensive
> input from the community as to what people's specific needs are, and
> the development of this project should reflect the needs of the
> community, rather than make stringent choices and cast a design set in
> stone.

-- 
Murray Cumming
murrayc at murrayc.com
www.murrayc.com
www.openismus.com