Calendar.txt outlines a simple, universal calendar format based on plain text. Each line represents a day, formatted as YYYY-MM-DD followed by optional event descriptions separated by tabs. This minimalist approach allows for easy creation, parsing, and manipulation by any text editor or scripting tool, promoting interoperability across diverse platforms and applications. The post emphasizes the benefits of this format's portability, version control friendliness, and longevity, contrasting it with proprietary calendar systems that often lock users into specific software or data formats. The suggested structure allows for complex recurring events and to-do lists with simple extensions, making it adaptable to various scheduling needs.
Ocal is an AI-powered calendar app designed to intelligently schedule assignments and tasks. It analyzes your existing calendar and to-do list, understanding deadlines and estimated time requirements, then automatically allocates time slots for optimal productivity. Ocal aims to minimize procrastination and optimize your schedule by suggesting realistic time blocks for each task, allowing you to focus on the work itself rather than the planning. It integrates with existing calendar platforms and offers a streamlined interface for managing your commitments.
HN users generally expressed skepticism about Ocal's claimed ability to automatically schedule tasks. Some doubted the AI's capability to understand task dependencies and individual work styles, while others questioned its handling of unexpected events or changes in priorities. Several commenters pointed out that existing calendar applications already offer similar features, albeit without AI, suggesting that Ocal's value proposition isn't clear. There was also concern about privacy and the potential need to grant the app access to sensitive calendar data. A few users expressed interest in trying the product, but the overall sentiment leaned towards cautious skepticism.
The blog post argues for a standardized, cross-platform OS API specifically designed for timers. Existing timer mechanisms, like POSIX's timerfd and Windows' CreateWaitableTimer, while useful, differ significantly across operating systems, complicating cross-platform development. The author proposes a new API with a consistent interface that abstracts away these platform-specific details. This ideal API would allow developers to create, arm, and disarm timers, specifying absolute or relative deadlines with optional periodic behavior, all while handling potential issues like early wake-ups gracefully. This would simplify codebases and improve portability for applications relying on precise timing across different operating systems.
The Hacker News comments discuss the complexities of cross-platform timer APIs, largely agreeing with the article's premise. Several commenters highlight the difficulties introduced by different operating systems' power management features, impacting timer accuracy and reliability. Specific challenges like signal coalescing and the lack of a unified interface for monotonic timers are mentioned. Some propose workarounds like busy-waiting for short durations or using platform-specific code for optimal performance. The need for a standardized API is reiterated, with suggestions for what such an API should offer, including considerations for power efficiency and different timer resolutions. One commenter points to the challenges of abstracting away hardware differences completely, suggesting the ideal solution may involve a combination of OS-level improvements and application-specific strategies.
Summary of Comments ( 63 )
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43160226
Hacker News users discuss the minimalist approach of
calendar.txt, appreciating its simplicity and portability. Some highlight its alignment with the Unix philosophy of doing one thing well. Others suggest improvements like adding support for recurring events or integration with other tools. A few users express skepticism, finding the plain text format too limiting for practical use, while others champion its accessibility and ease of parsing. The discussion also touches upon alternative calendar solutions and the benefits of plain text for archiving and data longevity. Several commenters share their personal workflows incorporating plain text files for task management and scheduling.The Hacker News post "Calendar.txt" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43160226) discussing the article about a plain text calendar system has a moderate number of comments, offering a mix of perspectives on the idea.
Several commenters appreciate the simplicity and portability of the system. One user highlights the benefit of having a universal format that's easy to parse and manipulate with standard Unix tools. This sentiment is echoed by others who see the value in a lightweight, human-readable format that avoids the complexities and potential lock-in of proprietary calendar applications. The ability to easily diff versions of the calendar file for tracking changes is also mentioned as a positive aspect.
Some users delve into specific use cases and integrations. One commenter suggests using
grepandawkfor extracting specific information from the calendar file, showcasing the practicality of working with plain text. Another mentions integrating the calendar.txt with Taskwarrior, a command-line task management tool, further emphasizing the system's compatibility with other command-line utilities. One user even shared a link to their own Python script for generating calendar.txt files, demonstrating the ease with which the system can be automated.A few comments address potential drawbacks and offer alternative solutions. One user raises the concern of lacking features commonly found in dedicated calendar applications, such as reminders or sharing capabilities. Another points out the potential difficulty of handling recurring events elegantly within the plain text format. Suggestions for alternative plain text calendar formats are also put forward, including mentioning org-mode and reminding users of the built-in
calcommand.A significant part of the discussion revolves around the philosophy of using plain text for personal information management. Some users advocate for the longevity and control offered by plain text systems, emphasizing the freedom from vendor lock-in and the ability to easily migrate data. Others express a preference for more feature-rich graphical applications, highlighting the convenience and advanced functionality they provide.
Finally, some comments offer minor critiques and suggestions for improvement, like including timestamps or considering different delimiters. Overall, the comments section reflects a generally positive reception to the calendar.txt concept, acknowledging its strengths while also recognizing its limitations and suggesting potential enhancements.