REQUEST: rednotebook

[agrendel]

This very practical note keeper-cum-diary is now up to version 2.8 and is regularly updated with a number of active contributors and is available in cross-platform packages that can be installed on several other Linux distributions (as well as Windows) but it is only available in an old Debian Jessie package so can't be installed via apt on MX-17. Apparently someone requested this package for an older version of MX - perhaps at the time it was in a Mepis repository but there has been no follow-up since then (about two years ago).
From what I gather in my internet searches, it was not re-packaged for Debian Stretch because of a problem with the python-webkit dependency. However, I have been able to install it locally from a tarball and it appears in my menu so can be started with no problem with me as user alone. However, this method does not allow for updates unless I do them manually.
Another method of installing it to a local user directory is described in this page https://github.com/jendrikseipp/rednote ... /README.md
but the author advises using an official package manager. In any case this method won't work as it requires the python3-pip installer which is again not available in our repositories.
I've used this application for some years on Linuxmint as with Ubuntu-based distributions you can use ppa repositories to install the missing packages. However, it seems that this method of adding unofficial packages to apt-cache is deprecated. Hence my new request. I don't know if it would need much work to make a new MX package as it is something beyond my limited know-how, so I would be glad if someone more knowledgeable would take up the task.

[baldyeti]

hello i cannot fully test the suggested install method as i do not have access to my mx box right now, but i am pretty sure python3-pip must be available as it is in stretch.

[Richard]

I used to use the RedNoteBook several years ago.

Currently using CherryTree.
"A hierarchical note taking application, featuring rich text and syntax highlighting,
storing data in a single xml or sqlite file."
Which is one of three programs started at or after booting.

[Jerry3904]

I like CherryTree a lot too.

[timkb4cq]

Rednotebook was an easy build, seems to run properly here, and is now available in the MX-17 Test repository. Use the MX Package Installer in MX Tools to access the Test repository.

As with any package in Test, please leave feedback if you try it.

[agrendel]

Success! Many thanks to timkb4cq who wrapped up the new package to install Rednotebook which is up to the latest version 2.8 now. I've installed it on my two computers with MX-Linux with no problem and it picks up my existing data files stored in the ~/.rednotebook directory straight away. The only function which didn't work was the spell-checker so I wrote a message to the creator of the program and he replied almost immediately that you have to install the python3-enchant package. This is done easily from the Stable Repo so everything is now working perfectly. Thanks again for the prompt reaction - proof that MX-Linux is the best choice of a fast, efficient distro with great support from the user forum.