About the setup
The goal of the workflow is to be ever evolving to be more efficient and useful. The main application of it is to write LaTeX documents, manage references, figures, etc. So that one does not need to think about it anymore but has a good experience using it and the optimal output.
The applications used are explained in the following post, the more experienced will find the following graph helpful.
.----------.
| my ideas |
'----.-----' .---------------.
| | others' ideas |
| '-------.-------'
v |
.---------. |
| Obsidian |<---. v
| (in nvim) | \ .--------------.
'----.----' '-------------+ papers & books |
| ^ through '-----.--------'
| \ annotations |
| \ & notes /
| \ /
v \ /
.--------. .----------------. \ when clicking on zotero
| final | | novel thoughts | \ extension or manually
| piece of | /'----------------' \ |
| writing | / \ |
'--------' / script adds notes |
^ .--' with cit-key as name v
| / through \ .------.
| / writing .-------+ Zotero |
| / | '------'
| / automatically with
| | better-bibtex-extension
| v .
.---.---. .-----------. /
| LaTeX |<-----------------+ BibTeX file |<-'
'-------' automatically '-----------'
referable
mindmap to illustrate use
LaTeX LaTeX is a typesetting software
that makes digital typesetting easy and visually appealing. However, there is a little entry barrier because you need to know commands to use it. Nevertheless, everything is generally logical and makes sense. To illustrate what you can expect of the entry barrier/outcome see the following graph:
The graph should illustrate that the entry barrier is harder, so people mostly prefer using word like software, but on the long time, and at everything containing formulas, pictures and more than a page LaTeX should be preferred for ones own sake.
Personally, I have a lot of fun using it, and it often motivates me to get work done instead of being a hindrance like Word. I don't want to focus solely on why Word is bad, but here's a nice way to compare them:
In Word, you typeset your text while typing, and you only see the 'finished' text. Consequently, while writing, you might do it naturally or, to procrastinate, start to format everything. Then, when you move a figure, there is the possibility that everything gets messed up.
On the other hand, with LaTeX, you just write in plain text using, for
example, Vim (which also makes it more enjoyable to use). You see the
text with commands within it, and you focus on writing content without
worrying about how it looks. When you want to add a footnote, you simply
use \footnote{} and input the content. There are no style
considerations to think about, but it still yields a sense of logical
structure, resulting in the best and most perfect outcome from my
experience.
Another thing, things like bibliographies are made nearly automatically, I luckily have never written a bibliography myself, but seeing people actually doing it, or 'just' copying it from somewhere for every single citation they have seems most horrible.
Inkscape
Inkscape is a vector tool used for creating and editing vector graphics. I use it with LaTeX to make some of my mathematical figures. It's open-source, which is appealing, and it's also extensible. As extensions, I use a figure manager that seamlessly integrates with LaTeX without any extra thinking. Additionally, I use a shortcut manager that allows me to have different stroke strengths, fill colors, arrow endings, etc., readily available with just a keystroke in the app. This convenience reduces the need for excessive mouse usage.
Neovim
Neovim is my text editor of choice for several reasons:
- Firstly, it's more extensible and easier to understand than Vim (for this article: vim = neovim).
- Secondly, Vim is highly efficient once you learn it.
Vim maps every letter on the keyboard, and while non- and capitalized letters require certain keys to enter insert mode for writing text, as long as you are not in insert mode, you can navigate and edit a text file or document using the entire keyboard. This allows for faster editing compared to any other text editor. Admittedly, it takes some time to get used to, but the skills I’ve gained from learning Vim have been tremendously beneficial, as mentioned in the LaTeX section.
It's a lot of fun to use.
Zotero
Zotero is one of the programs I enjoy less due to its heavy GUI-based nature. However, its convenience makes me continue using it, which speaks highly of its usefulness.
Zotero is a reference management software used to gather references such as papers, articles, books, etc., for academic research. It allows users to view, annotate, export bibliography citations, and perform other functions.
Personally, I use Zotero for three main purposes:
- Using the browser extension to add sources with just one click.
- Automatically writing all citations into a .bib file every two seconds for BibLaTeX to use.
- Being able to cite these sources in LaTeX without any problems or hassle.
Obsidian
Lastly, I use Obsidian because I did not have a good system to take care of my plain-text notes. Obsidian seems to be a good alternative.
But I do use it fully in Neovim with a plugin, so it is enjoyable to use. Here are some features which I enjoy:
- Write everything in markdown.
- Have automatically daily notes (accessible with a hotkey in my config).
- Reference different notes.
- Show a graph to display links between notes.
- Use templates.
conclusion
There is one initial problem I have with the setup, which is the setup is perfectly optimized to write papers and do research, but at the moment I have as good as nothing to do with that.
This is the taking notes part of the setup, later in Part 2 I'll talk about the bigger system: tiling window manager, hotkey deamon, etc.
If you have any questions, ideas or other things you want to mention, you can contact me at:
contact [at] d-rens.site