| Related sites for http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html |
| Ivan_Peters__Dot_Com JavaScript overview, adding "Find In Page" feature to web site. Also skydiving stuff. | | Intrada_Technologies,_LLC Offers streaming audio/video services, e-commerce solutions, web development, and hosting. | | MW_Software Prolific developer of Artworks modules. Site also contains other useful utilities. | | Trace_Listeners__NET A cyclic file trace listener. By ComponentSpace. | | Matley_Software_Ltd Provides web design and hosting services for the health sector. Services range from basic sites to database driven member systems. | | Visual_Studio_Booster_for_Microsoft_Visual_C++ Add tabbed windows management to Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 IDE. Switch between opened document windows by the easy clicking tabs. [Shareware] | | Beiks,_LLC Developers of such Palm OS games as NetWalk, Literati, Clickomania, Pilot Lines, and Karateka. | | ProListHosting Free for lists under 2500 members. | | Reactive360_Appraisals 360 Degree Appraisals fully online customisable system, no costs for setup. PDF output. | | RFC_3127 Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting: Protocol Evaluation. D. Mitton, M. St.Johns, S. Barkley, D. Nelson, B. Patil, M. Stevens, B. Wolff. June 2001. | | Pulsedge_Solutions_LLC Specializes in advanced signal processing, algorithm development, hardware/software system architectures and detailed design of custom ASICs, FPGAs, custom DSP cores and hardware/software/firmware sol | | Morphix A modular distribution without any configuration; comes with live-cd support. | | Sybase_Technical_Information_Library Sybase product manuals, solved cases, and newsgroups. | | E-volve_Internet_Design_Solutions Web design, graphics, e-commerce solutions, images, banners, Flash designs and search engine submissions. | | DigitalMirror Provides design, hosting, database development, Flash animation, multimedia, and marketing services. Located in New York and Connecticut, United States. | | Li_-_Li\'s_Photography_and_Design Offers site design. | | Google_Tool Search www/www2/www3 or the five google datacenters simultaneously. Can be used to check if the dance has begun. | | How_to_Make_Internet_Explorer_5_for_Mac_OS_Classic_use_Google_as_its_Search_Engine Step by step guide with screenshots. | | Tab_Pro A tab control with different pre-defined appearance styles. By FarPoint Technologies Inc. | | MICROSYS Developers of PROMOTIC SCADA HMI software since 1991. Full featured software, training and support. Installed in a wide range of industrial applications. |
|
We Can Put an End to Word Attachments - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)@import url('/print.css'); Skip to content | Translations of this page Search: The GNU Operating System Home Store History Philosophy Licenses Download GNU Help GNU Sitemap We Can Put an End to Word Attachmentsby Richard M. StallmanDon't you just hate receiving Word documents in email messages? Wordattachments are annoying, but worse than that, they impede people fromswitching to free software. Maybe we can stop this practice with asimple collective effort. All we have to do is ask each person whosends us a Word file to reconsider that way of doing things.Most computer users use Microsoft Word. That is unfortunate for them,since Word is proprietary software, denying its users the freedom tostudy, change, copy, and redistribute it. And because Microsoftchanges the Word file format with each release, its users are lockedinto a system that compels them to buy each upgrade whether they wanta change or not. They may even find, several years from now, that theWord documents they are writing this year can no longer be read withthe version of Word they use then.But it hurts us, too, when they assume we use Word and send us (ordemand that we send them) documents in Word format. Some peoplepublish or post documents in Word format. Some organizations willonly accept files in Word format: I heard from someone that he wasunable to apply for a job because resumes had to be Word files. Evengovernments sometimes impose Word format on the public, which is trulyoutrageous.For us users of free operating systems, receiving Word documents is aninconvenience or an obstacle. But the worst impact of sending Wordformat is on people who might switch to free systems: they hesitatebecause they feel they must have Word available to read the Word filesthey receive. The practice of using the secret Word format forinterchange impedes the growth of our community and the spread offreedom. While we notice the occasional annoyance of receiving a Worddocument, this steady and persistent harm to our community usuallydoesn't come to our attention. But it is happening all the time.Many GNU users who receive Word documents try to find ways to handlethem. You can manage to find the somewhat obfuscated ASCII text inthe file by skimming through it. Free software today can read someWord documents, but not all—the format is secret and has not beenentirely decoded. Even worse, Microsoft can change it at any time.Worst of all, it has already done so. Microsoft Office 2007 uses bydefault a format based on the patented OOXML format. (This is the onethat Microsoft got declared an “open standard” bypolitical manipulation and packing standards committees.) The actualformat is not entirely OOXML, and it is not entirely documented.Microsoft offers a gratis patent license for OOXML on terms which donot allow free implementations. We are thus beginning to receive Wordfiles in a format that free programs are not even allowed to read.When you receive a Word file, if you think of that as an isolatedevent, it is natural to try to cope by finding a way to read it. Butas an instance of a pernicious systematic practice, it calls for adifferent approach. Managing to read the file is treating a symptomof an epidemic disease. What we really want to do is stop the diseasefrom spreading. That means we must convince people not to send orpost Word documents.I therefore make a practice of responding to Word attachments with apolite message explaining why the practice of sending Word files is abad thing, and asking the person to resend the material in a nonsecretformat. This is a lot less work than trying to read the somewhatobfuscated ASCII text in the Word file. And I find that peopleusually understand the issue, and many say they will not send Wordfiles to others any more.If we all do this, we will have a much larger effect. People whodisregard one polite request may change their practice when theyreceive multiple polite requests from various people. We may be ableto give “don't send Word format” the status of netiquette,if we start systematically raising the issue with everyone who sendsus Word files.To make this effort efficient, you will probably want to develop acanned reply that you can quickly send each time it is necessary.I've included two examples: the version I have been using recently,followed by a new version that teaches a Word user how to convert toother useful formats. They are followed by several suggestions sentby other people.You can use these replies verbatim if you like, or you can personalizethem or write your own. By all means construct a reply that fits yourideas and your personality—if the replies are personal and notall alike, that will make the campaign more effective.These replies are meant for individuals who send Word files. When youencounter an organization that imposes use of Word format, that callsfor a different sort of reply; there you can raise issues of fairnessthat would not apply to an individual's actions.Some recruiters ask for resumes in Word format. Amazingly, somerecruiters do this even when looking for someone for a free softwarejob. (Anyone using those recruiters for free software jobs is notlikely to get a competent employee.) To help change this practice,you can put a link to this page into your resume, next to links toother formats of the resume. Anyone hunting for a Word version of theresume will probably read this page.This page talks about Word attachments, since they are by far the mostcommon case. However, the same issues apply with other proprietaryformats, such as PowerPoint and Excel. Please feel free to adapt thereplies to cover those as well, if you wish.With our numbers, simply by asking, we can make a difference.You sent the attachment in Microsoft Word format, a secretproprietary format, so I cannot read it. If you send me the plaintext, HTML, or PDF, then I could read it.Sending people documents in Word format has bad effects, because thatpractice puts pressure on them to use Microsoft software. In effect,you become a buttress of the Microsoft monopoly. This specificproblem is a major obstacle to the broader adoption of GNU/Linux.Would you please reconsider the use of Word format for communicationwith other people?You sent the attachment in Microsoft Word format, a secretproprietary format, so it is hard for me to read. If you send meplain text, HTML, or PDF, then I will read it.Distributing documents in Word format is bad for you and for others.You can't be sure what they will look like if someone views themwith a different version of Word; they may not work at all.Receiving Word documents is bad for you because they can carryviruses (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_virus).Sending Word documents is bad for you, because a Word documentnormally includes hidden information about the author, enabling thosein the know to pry into the author's activities (maybe yours). Textthat you think you deleted may still be embarrassingly present. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3154479.stm for more info.But above all, sending people Word documents puts pressure on them touse Microsoft software and helps to deny them any other choice. Ineffect, you become a buttress of the Microsoft monopoly. Thispressure is a major obstacle to the broader adoption of free software.Would you please switch to a different way of sending files to otherpeople, instead of Word format?To convert the file to HTML using Word is simple. Open thedocument, click on File, then Save As, and in the Save As Type stripbox at the bottom of the box, choose HTML Document or Web Page. Thenchoose Save. You can then attach the new HTML document instead ofyour Word document. Note that Word changes in inconsistentways—if you see slightly different menu item names, please trythem.To convert to plain text is almost the same—instead of HTMLDocument, choose Text Only or Text Document as the Save AsType.Your computer may also have a program to convert to pdf format.Select File => Print. Scroll through available printers and selectthe pdf converter. Click on the Print button and enter a name for thepdf file when requested.See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html for moreabout this issue.Here's another approach, suggested by Bob Chassell. It requires thatyou edit it for the specific example, and it presumes you have a wayto extract the contents and see how long they are.I am puzzled. Why did you choose to send me 876,377 bytes in yourrecent message when the content is only 27,133 bytes?You sent me five files in the non-standard, bloated .doc format thatis Microsoft's secret, rather than in the international, public, andmore efficient format of plain text.Microsoft can (and did recently in Kenya and Brazil) have localpolice enforce laws that prohibit students from studying the code,prohibit entrepeneurs starting new companies, and prohibitprofessionals offering their services. Please don't give them yoursupport.John D. Ramsdell suggests people to discourage the use of proprietaryattachments by making a small statement in their .signaturefile:Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.htmlHere is a responseletter by Alexandros Papadopoulos to an email message with wordattachment.Kevin Cole of the Gallaudet University in Washington,D.C sends out thisautomatic reply message whenever he receives a wordattachment. (I think it isbetter to send the responses by hand, and make it clear that you havedone so, because people will receive them better.)Father Martin Sylvesteroffers a more lengthyresponse that adds the concept that it is a discourtesy to sendWord attachments to a recipient when you don't know that they can readthem. back to topPlease send FSF & GNU inquiries to gnu@gnu.org.There are also other ways to contact the FSF.Please send broken links and other corrections or suggestions towebmasters@gnu.org.Please see the TranslationsREADME for information on coordinating and submittingtranslations of this article.Copyright © 2002, 2007 Richard M. StallmanVerbatim copying and distribution of this entire article ispermitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.Updated:$Date: 2008/07/11 18:27:35 $ Translations of this pageBosanski [bs]Česky [cs]Dansk [da]Deutsch [de]English [en]Español [es]Français [fr]עברית [he]Italiano [it]Nederlands [nl]Norsk (bokmål) [nb]Polski [pl]português do Brasil [pt-br]Română [ro]Русский [ru] |
|
