
Show HN: My implemented vision of a PIM - CMPayton
Hi one and all. I&#x27;ve created an encrypted personal organizer I wish to share with you all. I know.... you are sighing and thinking &quot;Oh! No! not another one&quot;.<p>doogiePIM is different in that it&#x27;s built by the same coder that created one of the very first PIMs that came out around 18+ years ago and creator of TexNotes way back then (it was actually called Scribillo. Wow, I feel old). The original PIM was sold then abandoned by GemX Software and that made me feel really bad. So, I obtained the full code and started to build a far better version of the information manager. One that will (hopefully) stand the test of time. The work is still ongoing, taking out the bugs, improving features and making it available to everyone around the world with localisation of the UI.<p>(Warning: I&#x27;m going to invoke Obi Wan Kenobi logic here....)
Therefore, it&#x27;s not another PIM - it&#x27;s one of the oldest on the Internet... from a certain point of view :P<p>After a couple of years of work, I think it&#x27;s almost there. I&#x27;ve rewritten a huge chunk of code, implemented a more modern UI and reworked a lot of the database encryption. I can now start implementing some needed new features and quality-of-life implementations that help rather than hinder. Features such as Android connectivity and better importing of Cloud data. I&#x27;m pretty sure you guys will give me a guide as to what you need in a solid PIM.<p>I want to invite you all to take a look at my vision of a single focus PIM. Go ahead and try doogiePIM, tear it apart. I&#x27;d love to read anything you have to say about it.<p>You can read my latest dev blog here:
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bitespire.com&#x2F;community&#x2F;274-around-the-world-in-80-development-days" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bitespire.com&#x2F;community&#x2F;274-around-the-world-in-80-d...</a><p>Download here:
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bitespire.com&#x2F;download.php" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bitespire.com&#x2F;download.php</a><p>Of course, read about the features and usual blurb here:
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bitespire.com&#x2F;details_doogiepim.php" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bitespire.com&#x2F;details_doogiepim.php</a><p>Kindest regard to all,
Chris
======
walterbell
Is this a time traveler PIM? Email client, database, outliner, dashboard,
personal finance, perpetual license, desktop client. Nicely done!

Congrats on recovering the source. Ecco Pro and Lotus Agenda users were not so
lucky. Users have binary patched a 20-year old .exe to extend Ecco Pro's
functionality.

You should include TexNotes screenshots on the site for historical context.

Since you're already doing time travel, will this run on ReactOS (open-source
Win32) or Wine on Linux and MacOS?

~~~
CMPayton
I'm playing around with Wine at the moment. doogiePIM does run but there are
issues with the toolbars that I need to adjust so Wine will run smoother.

I haven't tried ReactOS. doogiePIM is 32 bit so I'll have a go. Thanks for the
heads up.

MacOS is something else. That could take a longer time. :(

I love the TexNotes idea, many thanks. I'll get to work on writing an "About"
page with some retro photos.

 _Jumps back into the TARDIS and whizzes off_

------
Johnny555
From the feature page: _doogiePIM has your privacy in mind. It doesn 't use an
unsecure Cloud, it stores your data using strong encryption on your disk of
choice_

How can cloud storage be "unsecure" if the data is encrypted?

~~~
awalton
> How can cloud storage be "unsecure" if the data is encrypted?

Because security is more than _just_ encryption. If someone puts my data on a
simple HTTP web server but the file's encrypted, the only defensive layer
between my data and someone else is that encryption - it better be damn good
and have used a strong key.

I'd rather that file be behind more layers of security than that - I want
authorization and authentication, preferably multi-factor authentication. I
want the data service provider to have some notion of what addresses I'd
likely be accessing from (North America), and which are likely attacks (China,
Russia), and act accordingly (e.g. increasing security measures like anti-
botting, asking security questions, etc). I want them to have a pretty robust
logging infrastructure and intrusion detection, so that when they do
eventually get attacked, they can notify who they need to that their data has
been compromised and rotate credentials. I want to know they properly handle
drives and NV memory that have had my data on them - either securely wiping
them, or destroying them outright.

This whole idea is known as "defense in depth," \- if one layer fails, you
have more to fall back on, with the hope that attackers will eventually give
up once they've hit too many hurdles to make the attack pay off, or they
simply can't surmount the numerous layers of defense.

From the perspective of everything I just mentioned, just throwing your
encrypted files on a web server feels pretty insecure to me.

------
shimon
The value proposition of this product is claiming to do too much. Because I
don't have a pre-existing belief in the value of integrating all these
functions in a single "PIM" (what is a PIM anyway? is my smartphone a PIM?)
I'm stuck wondering how this might help me, and reluctant to try something
that might not be valuable until it has replaced a huge set of habits/tools.

If I want to benefit from trying this PIM, where should I start? In case it
helps, I'm a gmail/gcalendar/emacs org-mode user.

~~~
CMPayton
doogiePIM (PIM=Personal Information Manager) is designed around you so you
start where you need to start. eg: If you're a coder and you need somewhere to
store snippets of research and code whilst researching the web, then you would
start with the Documents section whilst using the browser tabs. If you're more
into needing a way to organize the Events of the day, then you start at the
Calendar.

doogiePIM isn't a tool to use for the sake of being there but a tool to use to
assist with what you're a doing. Think of it as a Swiss Army Knife.

If you're already happy with your current set-up to manage your Gmail/Calendar
then stick with that.

Don't try to fix something that isn't broken.

------
dvanwag
Actual doogiePIM user here: I've been using this app for the the last four
months and it really does do everything Chris promises it does - its amazingly
stable and adaptable for being developed by one talented individual. Hardly a
day goes by I don't discover a new feature which has helped me migrate certain
workflows into one, local platform allowing me to replace Word, Google
Calendar, and Mint to name just a few (I keep everything on my Surface with
occasional backups off site).

While doogiePIM is billed as a personal information manager (PIM) I actually
use it more as a Personal Knowledge Manager (PKM), which is especially
conducive due to the built in Chromium browser, so I don't have to keep
switching between multiple apps like Chrome (which I no longer trust), Notion,
or some other Productivity program. Talking with the OP he is extremely
responsive and open to suggestions that would make doogiePIM more functional
and customizable.

As a longtime HN lurker I've noticed that for years individuals have longed
for a centrally managed information program and I feel strongly that this is
the only one that fits that bill:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8806950](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8806950)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8270759](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8270759)

It was actually this topic that exposed me to HN in the first place.

I am not in any way affiliated with the OP but I am a believer in that the
program delivers. That and the fact that it's a local app gives me peace of
mind.

------
scrumper
This is good stuff! PIMs were such useful bits of software: Agenda, Packrat,
Sidekick, Organizer, Ecco...

I am a Mac user but I'll be watching this very closely. I would love to see
this get some traction.

EDIT: Sorry, thought I'd better add something of substance here. One negative
is that I have to trust you that it is secure. I get the integration of
Calendar, messages, notes etc. but the password manager is a step too far in
terms of trust for me.

~~~
CMPayton
Trust is a huge thing and understandable. This is one reason why I don't trust
Cloud storage with very important data. I would rather have my data on my
local drive where only I can see it.

I like the idea of some open-source modules. I'll think about how I can do
that without compromising security of existing data.

------
codewritinfool
Here's hoping for an OSX version.

~~~
jirir
Yes. Will there be the macOS version?

~~~
CMPayton
Alas, not soon. I want to take the next few months to add Android import and
personal LAN use first. Then I'll think about porting. I am looking at Wine
now though.

~~~
walterbell
Might be worth a look at
[http://strlen.com/treesheets](http://strlen.com/treesheets), which is a
smaller, OSS, cross-platform swiss army knife based on wxWidgets.

On Android, NoteLynX Pro has some neat ideas, including an outliner item
having multiple parents,
[http://astrodean.blogspot.com/?m=1](http://astrodean.blogspot.com/?m=1)
Mindscope on iOS also allows an item to be soft-linked into multiple
trees/parents for display, with a navigation path back to the original
context.

ConnectedText on Windows, DevonThink and Scrivener on macOS have partial
overlap.

For mobile: could doogiePIM import OPML files with dedupe? Many existing
mobile apps can export as OPML. Could serve as a one-way sync/import.

For archival resilience: will the database format be documented, or could
SQLite or XML export be supported? It's tempting to consolidate data into one
app for UX/power, but we all know the long term risks.

For mail import, might be worth confirming that MBX import works from
[https://www.mailstore.com/en/products/mailstore-
home/](https://www.mailstore.com/en/products/mailstore-home/), a free (for
individuals) German app that can archive email from many cloud services.
Presumably doogiePIM stores email in a standard format.

------
rhencke
The cross-linking capabilities seem honestly really cool, and this is
something I have often yearned for in managing my own info. I dig that the
license is unlimited updates within a major version too. Will give it a shot.
:)

~~~
CMPayton
The cross-linking of data was the primary reason for creating doogiePIM. I've
recently added the ability to hyperlink words and images to specific words and
other images within the Documents and Noteboard. This is detailed on my dev
blog entry here: [https://bitespire.com/community/239-one-link-to-rule-them-
al...](https://bitespire.com/community/239-one-link-to-rule-them-all-2-0-1-4)

Major versions are roughly 18 months to two years apart with at least a 50%
discount for the upgrade. I was thinking about a subscription basis but
thinking from the point of view of a user, I wouldn't like that myself. I
think this is a fair compromise - users get a good deal and I get a little
something to replace my flux-capacitor every couple of years.

------
andrewbinstock
For the retro folks among us, JetBrains' PIM, Omea, is still available from
them. [1] It's free, but not supported. And not as feature packed as the PIM
described here.

[1] [https://www.jetbrains.com/omea/](https://www.jetbrains.com/omea/)

------
fiatjaf
This is all very confusing.

