Here be dragons
I’ve been a fan of mind mapping for a few years now, and prior to my ditching Microsoft Windows in favour of Ubuntu as my daily platform (a move which was only possible due to a change of job) MindManager was generally the second application I opened after my e-mail client.
I’ve never found a FOSS mind mapping client I like though, so although I’m much happier using Ubuntu on a day-to-day basis I no longer use mind maps. I’ve tried Freemind numerous times, but it never worked quite the way I wanted it to. Aesthetically View Your Mind doesn’t do it for me either. Today I stumbled across PersonalBrain which has some nice features (and free – little ‘f’ – version), but again it doesn’t compare to MindManager.
I think it’s an integration thing – MindManager looked and acted like a Windows application, and integrated with Microsoft Office. Now I’m using GNOME but Freemind and PersonalBrain use Java whilst View Your Mind is QT based.
Close, but no cigar.
However finding PersonalBrain re-kindled my interest in mind maps, and being a good social network citizen I looked for a relevant Facebook group. I found – and joined – one, and this group has led me to MindMeister – an online mind mapping application. Now although I dabble with online productivity applications, I tend to prefer desktop based ones for a few reasons:
Being practical though desktop integration is still hit and miss on Linux, whilst offline use is hardly required anymore – I do use my laptop offline, but connectivity is so easy to come by these days. That only leaves control of data, which remains a valid argument. However comprises must sometimes be made, and I think this may be one of those times.
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look good
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
I fully share your concerns. In my eyes, when it comes to mindmapping, the aesthetics play a role besides functionality. So maybe Freemind has quite a lot to offer, but it doesn’t so in a nice and intuitive way.
Lately I stumpled upon Labyrinth. It’s a GNOME mindmapping application in early development stage. It makes use of Cairo and hence produces visually good looking maps. Currently, it’s feature set is limited, but it does the job for basic tasks. So maybe this is the future for desktop integrated mindmapping under GNOME.
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
I don’t know how useful these programs will be for you but they are included in the Ubuntu repos:
1.) kdissert (which is the one I recommend and it does export to OOo)
2.) vym (played around with it for a tiny bit).
Also both are KDE applications.
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
http://www.psycho-project.org
This project is in very early stages of development but looks like I can have a lot of time to work on it in the near future.
Mind Manager is my biggest inspiration so you should like it.
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
kdissert/semantik?
I haven’t tried the latest version but it was getting fairly useful the last time I took a look. And you can output to LaTex and ODF
http://freehackers.org/~tnagy/kdissert.html
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
Great post! I’ve been pretty disappointed with the open-source mind-mapping programs myself. Having the app online is definitely a plus for me though since I work on many different machines. Thanks for the suggestions!
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
Have you tried Compendium?
"Compendium is a software tool providing a flexible visual interface for managing the connections between information and ideas."
http://www.compendiuminstitute.org/default.htm
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
You can also force Freemind to use the gtk (alike) widgets. On java6 it looks pretty nice.
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
@erik: For me, it’s not about the look, it’s about the feel. Even skinning up Java doesn’t change how it integrates into the desktop. While not so essential for mind mapping, stuff like libnotify and the like make all the difference between "a collection of GUI tools atop of X" and "a desktop".
-Dx
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
Several of the web-based tools (Mindomo, MindMeister) are approaching the level of usability of the desktop mind mapping programs. May be worth looking a bit further in that area. A lot of these tools are detailed in my Mind Mapping Software Blog (http://mindmapping.typepad.com).
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
a somewhat different approach:
http://cmap.ihmc.us
You can grab the tools - runs in Linux, Solaris, OS X, Windows and…OLPC! The server opens up collaboration and more.
Frank
21 Aug 2007 4:14 pm
Hi David,
Glad you found PersonalBrain! If you are coming from a mind mapping perspective you might want to try PersonalBrain’s new expanded views to see additional categories of Thoughts. Right click on the background to change views. Also be sure to create pins to areas that you frequent most in your Brain. PersonalBrain is different from a standard mind map because of its dynamic nature. Clicking on any thought triggers related information. This enables unlimited scalability. The goal is to enable you to create a reflection of your mind and ideas without having to create topic specific maps. Here a link to a larger example http://sociate.thebrain.com/brainekp/.
Best regards,
Shelley
29 Sep 2008 3:19 pm
Great Post! I’m new to the mind mapping arena and have been looking for a different perpective. The PersonalBrain comes close but there is something still missing. I am hoping for a more interactive interface. I have some ideas and hope to start a project and see if I can some feedback. Are there any recommended forums to post new projects outside of SoucreForge?