itwire.com — Professionals who work on the basis of billable hours rarely take the time out to write an article for publication unless they have a valid reason for doing so. That's why I'm generally a bit sceptical when lawyers come out with articles that attempt to make a case against the use of free and open source sofware.
Aug 11, 2008 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountAug 12, 2008
rawr
mahlerAug 12, 2008
They actually have a really good point: "So for those inclined to try Linux for free, the break even point is about 15 billable minutes, far less time than is needed to actually install it, assuming that you find a deal for a computer without a proprietary OS."They are absolutely right about this. As long as Linux is not bundled with enough Desktop PCs, rich people can't waste their time in searching for a windows-free computer to save a few hundred dollars. But the large majority of people don't earn $300 per hour, so their argument doesn't work for the rest of the population.Their statement: "Linux on a Desktop PC (currently) doesn't save money for people with an income of $X00 dollar / hour" is not something that hurts the image of Linux.
ethana2Aug 12, 2008
I've submitted more bug reports, feature requests, provided more free support---Screw you.
arcticblueAug 12, 2008
Got a reply:Thank you for your response to the blog posting "The Penguin Doesn't Fly." The author has addressed the facts that you reference below as "blatantly Incorrect" and that were identified in the blog posting (<a class="user" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080809033233244)">http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=200808090 ...</a> at Groklaw (<a class="user" href="http://www.groklaw.net/index.php).">http://www.groklaw.net/index.php).</a>To wit:1. The author's reference to the post on the Mandriva support site that has gone unanswered: <a class="user" href="http://expert.mandriva.com/question/101264.">http://expert.mandriva.com/question/101264.</a>2. The author acknowledged that a grammar checker extension is available in Open Office (<a class="user" href="http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/languagetool).">http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/ ...</a>I have reposted the corrected version of the commentary.The provenance of "The Penguin Doesn't Fly" does not rest with any other entity or individual, but solely with the author's experience in attempting to use Linux in his law office. Our site policy prevents us from publishing vendor-written or vendor-sponsored articles.Law.com's Legal Technology section (<a class="user" href="http://www.law.com/tech)">http://www.law.com/tech)</a> and blog (<a class="user" href="http://legaltech.law.com)">http://legaltech.law.com)</a> is in the business of publishing news, information, and commentary on technology that affects lawyers and the legal profession. In the past, we have covered open source software and Linux (<a class="user" href="http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=900005481825)">http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleL ...</a> and we will continue to do so with future updates from Linux World and the open source community.Thank you again for your time and interest.Respectfully,Sean Doherty
biznarieAug 13, 2008
From second link."...so instead we downloaded a small shareware productivity utility called “Bonzi Buddy”?."I remember that it was spyware lol
nybble41Aug 13, 2008
MS Office's grammar check, in my experience anyway, was far more trouble than it was worth more often than not. As for envelopes:<a class="user" href="http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/tutorial/Print_An_Envelope.html">http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/tutorial/Pri ...</a>
wigrenAug 14, 2008
"To wit:" lol. I'm glad I don't have to be around lawyers.
daviddiggAug 14, 2008
I suspect the real reason lawyers don't like OSS is because, generally speaking, OSS has no money to pay lawyers. Lawyers don't want to see their paying clients gobbled up by OSS, so they try to attack it. This is perfectly natural albeit ethically ambiguous (but as a group, lawyers are not known for their scruples). But lets not be too hasty - there are a crucial minority of software lawyers who work (some paid, some volunteer) for Red Hat, GNU, and others on our side.