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We are all using word processors, whether proprietary
or not, if we are practicing law. We may also be using some forms of proprietary
time keeping, administrative management, or other law office tool ( which
usually works only on a Microsoft OS) But if you try to convert your office
documents or try to talk to someone who only uses Word, or whatever, you must
have the software on your OS to convert or communicate. Without some way to
immediately convert or translate the document, you are going no where. The
programmers of the world seem to be oblivious of this problem. I think that is
because they are not word processor specific. They do not appreciate the
communication problem we are facing. I am really grateful to see that I am not
the only one stumbling around out here. I am really impressed with the traffic. Right now I am in the process of integrating
Ubuntu Linux into my system as the basic OS together with the Ubuntu package of
software that comes on the Linux OS. I understand that I could just as easily
use Debian or Suze. I am doing this because open source software is now
available for nearly every application you can think of and it is superior in
terms of performance because of the lean (high speed) architecture of the OS-as
compared to The problem with proprietary software is
that you have a small number of people charged with the responsibility of
maintaining the software and incorporating fixes and improvements. That is why
it takes so long to get improvements and also why it costs money. Whereas open
source is available for input from anyone to the given website for suggestions
and ideas on how to make it run mo betta. This means the whole world is pulling
together without some idiot dictating what an “improvement”
consists of, which is usually translated into how can we make money for
stuff that does not work that well to begin with. This is true for any
proprietary closed system no matter what you are talking about. If you have
been keeping up with the investment mags and the Wall Street Journal, you know
that open source is now characterized as the next big mega investment event in
technology. It is predicted that it will make the tech boom of the 90s look
like a spelling bee.. Right now I am trying to divide my OS to
encompass enough translation capability to handle, create, modify, send,
transmit, or otherwise deal with any document you might have in any format it
might come in. But I am a lawyer and not a programmer. Denny Andrews |