I use Gnome's sticky notes app and XFCE's notes plugin to keep track of my life. I use the notes to hold to-do lists, reminders and my test list when I'm doing test-driven development. The combination of constant visibility, effortless persistence (no save button!) and a simple UI make them a great tool.
The problem is I move around too much. Each sticky note is bound to a particular machine. When I'm working on my laptop I can't see the stickies on my desktop or on my work machine.
I've considered switching to some kind of web-app replacement, maybe a wiki. The problem is the interface is all wrong. The page wouldn't be visible all the time and editing would be much more work than just entering a couple of lines on a note. I'd end up keeping less notes and that could only be a bad thing.
I'm thinking about writing my own notes app to solve the problem. I'd write a simple server to hold the data. Each client would be configurable as far as how notes are arranged and which ones are visible. The clients would send changes to the server periodically and poll for updates. The clients would need their own local storage for unplugged usage. I'd have to do something clever to deal with clashing independent updates. Maybe I could use CVS on the server, which would also open the possibility of accessing note history.
But before I go and waste a ton of time, does something like this already exist? My searches have come up empty but this isn't the kind of app that's easy to find.
-sam
