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 Vista or some other MS dead end crap that constantly crashes. The closest thing to a lean architecture in the proprietary world is MacIntosh, but that has the disadvantage of being proprietary. 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
