So, I've been using Tinderbox for a number of years now. I've used it in various capacities as an outliner, a personal idea catcher, and a book planner. And up until now, I've been plotting constantly to kill it.
Well, maybe I shouldn't put it as seriously as that. I've got nothing against Tinderbox except that it's not Open Source, it's somewhat pricey (US$229), and it's kind of a niche app (Mac-only).
The reason these things worry me is because I'd like to avoid locking my ideas away in a proprietary box that not many people know how to open and is certain to go away someday. As we know, in the long run, the utility of all non-Free software approaches zero.
But, to be honest:
- I've been worrying that Tinderbox would go away for probably 7 or 8 years now — it hasn't and doesn't show signs that it will any time soon.
- I've gotten good use out of it for a number of years after my original license expired, using somewhat ancient versions still quite productively.
- The complex user interface is powerful and yet pleasant for me to use after training myself to do so — out of all the idea management stuff I've tried to plug my brain into, Tinderbox has been the one most worth the price.
- The native format of Tinderbox files is XML and not some weird binary blob. It's a structure specific to Tinderbox, but it's clean and mungeable XML nonetheless.
So, over the past years, I've been continually thinking of how to kill Tinderbox. I've built most of a JavaScript-based outliner. I've played with DOM scripting to make Map views. I've started and drifted away from a dozen other things all aimed at replacing Tinderbox for myself — and they've all begun and ended in Tinderbox itself.
I start planning them in Tinderbox, and then I eventually return to Tinderbox to plan the next one. But never has using Tinderbox become enough of an itch to finally commit to one of them and free myself from its clutches. And, in the mean time, I keep myself from embracing all the features of Tinderbox for fear of getting more dependent on it.
Well, I think it's time to admit that I'm already very dependent on it. And I really like how it works, mostly. There are a few rough edges, but only in comparison to some platonic perfect app I've got in my head that I'll never get around to writing as long as Tinderbox itself is available.
So, I've renewed my license and got up to date, and I've thrown myself finally at the documentation for the state of Tinderbox export template art. I've gotten this start of a new blog put together, and I feel like I finally understand how this stuff works.
The sense I've got for the fluidity of my ideas in Tinderbox has greatly increased. My feelings of lock-in are deferred to the day when Tinderbox eventually goes away — a long time from now. And even when Tinderbox goes away, I am comfortable enough with the data files left behind that I expect to be able to do something with them as long as any XML tools still exist.
In the meantime, I'm going to start finally exploring how I can take complete advantage of this crazy thing.