Gnote: a Mono-Free Alternative to Tomboy Notes
- by Martin Kaba
- on Wed Jun 17, 2009
- 9 Comments
Tomboy is a wiki-style desktop note-taking application originally developed for Linux and Unix operating systems, but is now fully supported on Windows and Mac OS X.
This light-weight open source application aims at improving your productivity as it helps you organize pieces of information grabbed from here and there an placed here and there, with wiki-like links,
Case Sensitive search, out-of-the-way advanced editing features and more.
Tomboy notes is a pre-installed in Ubuntu since GNOME 2.16.
So far so good, but I must mention that Tomboy notes is written in C# and runs on cross platform, open source Mono – .NET development framework, a Novell production. For those who say NO to Novell and Microsoft and therefore to Mono (for patent issues) like Roy Schestowitz of Boycott Novell this is a big big issue.
- In the first place, Mono should not even be part of Gnome, they say.
Here is where Gnote practically steps in. Gnote is a port of Tomboy to C++. No Mono, No Novell.
To install Gnote on your Ubuntu and get constant updates, add to your apt sources.list entries
——————-
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnote/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnote/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
——————-
and authenticate with
1 | sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 5AAB5553 |
then sudo apt-get update
and install with sudo apt-get install gnote
Your newly installed Gnote alias C++ ported Tomboy lands on Applications -> Accessories -> Gnote
[Update]
The screenshot above clearly show what plugins/add-ins to expect in Gnote. Gnote has a good number of in-built plugins like Bugzilla links, Export to HTML, Fixed Width, Printing Support, Sticky Notes Importer and the Tomboy Importer ~ Import your notes from Tomboy but unfortunately it lacks Synchronization support, so you can’t sync your notes to Dropbox or UbuntuOne.
What Next: Will Gnote replace Tomboy notes as pre-installed in Ubuntu? Chi vivrà vedrà.
Boycott Novell Ref:
Tomboy is Afraid of Gnote, Its Mono-free Sibling
New Push for Gnote in Ubuntu by Default
10:01 am on June 19th, 2009
[...] Kaba, a Free software advocate, recommends replacing Tomboy with GNote. Here is where Gnote practically steps in. Gnote is a port of Tomboy to C++. No Mono, No [...]
2:58 pm on July 12th, 2009
I’d like to ask if plugins written for Tomboy work for Gnote. :) Just curious. Thanks!
10:28 pm on July 12th, 2009
@CLAIR: well it has a good number of plugins like Bugzilla links, Export to HTML, Fixed Width,Printing Support, Sticky Notes Importer and the most important is Tomboy Importer ~ Import your notes from Tomboy but unfortunately it lacks Synchronization support .
12:55 am on July 28th, 2009
[...] waiting for synchronization in Gnote, also try out Tomfox; the Firefox add-on that adds “Create Tomboy Note”option to [...]
3:12 am on August 26th, 2009
In gnome-system-monitor:
Tomboy -> 15.4 MB
Gnote -> 7.1 MB
For the same number of notes. C++ rules!
10:05 pm on November 25th, 2009
@fernandeslivre eu uso muito gnote : http://bit.ly/7sfMDT só sentiria falta mesmo de um jukebox à altura do banshee
1:19 am on March 3rd, 2010
Hmmm I know C# will use up more memory, but Gnote isn’t better because it uses less memory. Especially when we’re talking about 7 to 15mb.
Using up memory isn’t a bad thing. It’s the fastest form of storage. Just as long as it doesn’t over use it.
7:24 am on April 17th, 2010
More options == Always better!!!
10:26 pm on August 12th, 2010
The interface could be more direct, like the note application of the Windows 7… no menus is better, only q button to add a new note… the other options should be on the right click… ;)