Pros and cons of the cherrytree program

 

Cherrytree is an outliner software and the only example in the Debian repository. Outliner tools are a relative recent development in computing and were developed in parallel to word processing software which was recognized in mainstream.

Especially the idea of a two pane outliner software was available since the 2000s. The cherrytree software is one example for such tools. Unfortunately the software quality is low. The menus are not making much sense and the chance is high that the amount of users is low. But let us go through the program itself. The main feature is that the user can create sections in the pane on the left side and then enter a longer text on the right. So it can be compared with the navigator pane in libreoffice.

The other functions of cherry tree are little. The user can import and export some files and he can also insert images and tables. Nevertheless the idea of an outliner is so interesting that it makes sense to analyze the program in detail. An outliner is some sort of mindmap in a fulltext mode. The user is not required to enter a linear text from top to bottom but he jumps between the nodes similar to what programmers are doing if they are creating multiple classes. In addition the user can enter only keywords.

So the program has it strength in creating to do lists, short notes and very important book scripts. Outliner tools have became the defacto standard for writing screenplays and movies because of its ability to create complex hierarchical texts.

Let us talk about the cons of the cherrytree software in detail. Suppose the user has created a longer document and likes to export it into the pdf format. Technically a pdf file is created. But the margin can't be adjusted and the image resolution can't be changed. So it is more a preview function than a pdf generator. If the user likes to create a readable pdf paper he will need additional software like the previously mentioned libreoffice software.

So the question is why the user is creating first the notes in cherry tree if libreoffice writer has a similar feature under the term navigator? This would explain why the amount of users is low becauase if someone likes to create hierarchical notes and format them as a pdf paper he can do so with libreoffice writer much better. Another program which works with a similar principle is lyx. The disadvantage of lyx is that it needs for formatting purposes a fullblown latex installation which needs including the fonts around 15 GB on the hard drive.

But let us go back to the cherry tree program. The best way to imagine the idea is to take an existing text editor like gedit and enhance it with the ability to insert images and add a pane on the left side which shows the hierarchical structure. This results into cherry tree.