While I agree that these are not killer features, I'd suggest reading more about zsh. It's not meant to "replace" bash. It's meant to be easily extensible (addons, etc.) The target is folks that stay from bash scripting.
Yeah, you're right. It's not for the casual user. Emacs itself has "unwieldy keybindings" as many say. I switch between vim and emacs all the time but it's not for everybody
Might be misleading for me to say "embed" a video. Emacs definitely cannot play video (there are some round-about ways but org-mode is strictly text only)
I meant it's possible to embed a link/thumbnail that will open the file in the player of choice
I'm more of an offline-first person but I love how simple this is. If the need arises I'd consider it for sure. Looks like all my use cases are ticked off as well.
Quick question: is latex/mathematica/any other way to include equations possible? (excluding equation images obviously; needs to be editable)
Reposting my setup here. It's not the best setup but it's based on trying different things. Might be useful for those who are trying to figure out their own setup:
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Just another opinion on the balanced note taking method:
I think org-mode solves almost all offline note-taking requirements
* org-roam makes it super-easy to link notes
* emacs as an editor is as usable as any other editor
* Rich media is possible and easy to do in org-mode. Attach a snapshot, embed a video file
* Code with documentation is a feature not available in most other note taking methods/apps. It's possible to run code snippets and add comments, documentation about them in the same space
* Latex support is advanced. Inline equations work seamlessly
* Search support is advanced
Drawbacks:
* One of the main drawbacks is that all your notes end up offline. This was a deal-breaker for me. ox-hugo helps in publishing your notes to a (private) static site where it can be searched, viewed but not edited on the fly
* Publishing through ox-hugo is separate from maintaining a backup/sync of your notes in /org/ format. You'll have to do this separately through Dropbox/GDrive/etc
* A backup of your org notes is not usable until you set up your emacs environment and download all your notes