Is there a text based mind mapping tool for Ubuntu?

Question

Do you know any text based mind mapping tools for Ubuntu?

I.E. I would like to edit a text file (e.g. using vim) using a certain markup and then be able to convert it to a mind map (e.g. in png oder pdf format).

Do you know any tool that can do that?

Answer 1

I tried this, it works OK

• Make a tab-indented tree of items (very simple markup) e.g.

Mind Map
    Test Nodes
        Indented with tabs
    Does it work?
        I think it does....

• Then I copied and pasted the relevant text into FreeMind
• You can export as PNG from FreeMind

The FreeMind format is reasonably simple anyway - so I guess you could write some script to take your chosen text format and write FreeMind maps.

Answer 2

You can create mind maps using LaTeX packages, eg. with TikZ, but this won't be easy to get started with, especially if you're not familiar with LaTeX.

Maybe you'll also find gnuclad interesting, It's only being used for trees though (as far as I know).

Answer 3

You can use Astah Professional too. You can list up all the mind map topic list, then copy and past it into Astah will make a nice looking mind map.

Answer 4

Another GUI based program is Asciio, it let's you easily save in text mode or png. Some distro have a package for it, otherwise install from cpan.

I know that the next version will have a terminal based interface (because I am the author).

It is not a pure mind mapping application; you can draw what you want. There's a github project if you want to add some requirements, like mind mapping support.

A demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l9W84PhOyI