david stanek's digressions

Gimini is a neat little mind mapper written in Python using wxPython. Mind mapping in an excellent activity that helps organize thoughts and notes much better than bulleted lists. So far most of my mapping has been using a pen and a notepad. Pen and paper is still the best way to mind map, but I wanted to try it electronically.

I tested many projects, including Freemind, and for one reason or another was unhappy with the interfaces. When I found Gimini it was unmaintained and extremely out of date. I won't claim that all of the bugs have been worked out, but it does allow you to save and load files. For now that is good enough for me. My next step it to start using setuptools so that it is easy for other people to install.

Why did I decide to use an incomplete project instead of one of the more mature ones? I firmly believe in reusing things that exist in most cases. But a mind mapper needs to function in a particular way. I wanted something a little more in tune with how my mind works and how I want to mind map. Something a little closer to the ultimate flexibility that a pen and paper offer.

At this point in time I wouldn't recommend using it unless you want to help develop it. I'll be sure to make an announcement when it is stable enough for the general public.