standards

Why you should try free software

June 6, 2008

“Free” has two meanings: (1) gratis, and (2) libertas. When I say free software, I mean libertas, although much free software is gratis, as well. Choice There are two parts to choice: (1) different software that does the same thing, and (2) the ability to modify software to do what you want. Don’t like the [...]

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Minnesota study supports open document formats

May 29, 2008

New York and Minnesota just completed studies into the merits of using open formats. In the Minnesota report, the Office of Enterprise Technology came out in favor of open document formats, but stated that the marketplace is in flux, and it may be too early to recommend one format over another. (In related news, Microsoft [...]

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Microsoft announces “new interoperability;” EU calls bullshit

February 22, 2008

Today Microsoft announced a “new interoperability.” Microsoft promised, among other things, to open up cooperation with open source software, including distributing its APIs for its software and allowing open-source project to use them without fear of lawsuits. It already released its Office binary formats. The European Union, however, is investigating Microsoft for antitrust violations and [...]

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Hardware -> software -> standards (platform irrelevance)

October 4, 2007

In the beginning, there was hardware. With early computers, operating systems were not really conceived separately from the hardware. Software was hard-coded into computing systems. Soon after, however, hardware became the means to run an operating system. All hardware was made to run with an operating system–usually Windows, after Microsoft became dominant. And the operating [...]

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Document longevity

July 6, 2007

Last week on the MSBA’s SoloSmall list serve, I asked for reasons why attorneys do not yet have a paperless law office. To me, one of the most interesting reasons was based on a fear of obsolescence. In other words, will we still be able to read the PDF and word processor documents we create [...]

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