Hi HN!<p>I’m an African web developer wedded to Linux. This whole pandemic thing set off something in me and I realised I couldn’t just continue producing web applications for clients and be happy. After the 100th Django/Wordpress app I didn’t really want to continue that way.<p>Privacy and security have been top of mind for a while (thanks to many advocates here) and so I decided to get into a law degree, also appreciating the maxim that being a programmer in a non-programmer field often is more beneficial to oneself and the field.<p>So now I’m doing a full time degree whilst trying to manage my client load (I’m a freelancer), thankfully the client I’ve booked for this year has been understanding and we’ve adjusted the timelines for their project. All this to say, I need to be as efficient and productive as possible.<p>So, what are some of tools (Linux only please) that you can recommend for a relatively tech savvy person doing a law degree? Right now I’m quite proficient in vim and tmux, and I’ve also found Zotero which seems to be useful for storing papers and references and the like. Then there’s obviously Libreoffice, but beyond that I’m a bit stuck. Should I use latex at all? Note taking?<p>All these questions point to the need for some advice on a workflow and combination of tools, and I thought this would be the best place to ask.<p>Thanks in advance!
- nsomaru
Whatever you use, so long as the format is text-based Git is useful for tracking revisions. I guess that part is obvious, but in case it slipped your mind. IIRC, I used Git to version various PDFs, too, including syllabi and handouts, but only for a fraction of the various articles and opinions I had read through. I still have my Git repo 10+ years later. Every once in awhile I go back to look at something.<p>I mostly used Scrivener (I think) for note taking, but that was probably a bad idea. I never learned to make good use of it. It versioned well, though.<p>I did use learning LaTeX as a distraction/excuse in law school, and ended up using it for a few briefs and presentations (beamer). Unfortunately, my legal writing classes mandated Word, so I didn't get to use it for the bulk of my writing.<p>My Evidence professor once ask me if I had plagiarized a brief, to which I answered something to the effect of, "I'm flattered, but I can show you the tortured editing history from my version control system." Per habit, I had versioned both the LaTeX source and my plaintext notes, w/ regular commits and pushes out of anxiety about my laptop combusting.<p>FWIW, I wrote some of my best code while avoiding studying. (I absolutely loved studying the law, but the overall stress of law school made it quite difficult to stay focused on school and avoid seeking out feelings of accomplishment in hacking code.) Good luck!