3 ms·

FSF Use Microsoft Word and Docx to Submit Its Amicus Brief

7 points by zoobab 2y ago

raverbashing 2y ago
Literally nobody cares Lawyers will use whatever tool they know best for their job. And protip, LibreOffice is rarely that
- zoobab 2y ago
  Supporters of the FSF maybe?
- ndegruchy 2y ago
  Yeah, unless this is someone at the FSF, you don't really get to tell your attorney what tools they use. Sure, FSF could try and find someone who aligns with their beliefs, but often that's not feasible.
theandrewbailey 2y ago
They must have used MS Office because Libreoffice doesn't save in DOCX. Oh wait https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/libreoffice/ https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/libreoffice/ A DOCX file alone isn't enough evidence that MS Office was used.
egberts1 2y ago
Many archiac court systems still demand filings in MS-Word. The export features in Libreword is pretty good. https://help.libreoffice.org/25.2/en-US/search?P=Docx&DEFAULTOP=or&xFILTERS=.%7E%7E https://help.libreoffice.org/25.2/en-US/search?P=Docx&DEFAUL...
taylodl 2y ago
What a garbage "article." From the garbage pile: "Could the FSF not find any law firm that, in addition to talking about or for Free software, does not use .NET, OOXML, and almost everything Microsoft? Even in 2025?" One, no you cannot. Lawyers live in the world of Microsoft Office. Two, one does not choose a law firm based off the tools they use.
- malicka 2y ago
  Par for the course with Techrights, unfortunately.
tiahura 2y ago
The federal system, and every state ecf system I’ve seen, requires PDF. I’ve tried Star / Open / Libre Office every year since 9x. They still aren’t as robust as Word 6 for Windows 3.1 released 35 years ago.
snvzz 2y ago
FSF has never been opposed to using privative software when there's no alternative. Presumably, compatibility concerns forced them to.
- acefaceZ 2y ago
  Exactly - the court system does not accept PDFs generated by most open source tools. Pretty crazy. Adobe and Microsoft must love that.
acefaceZ 2y ago
If you are familiar with pacer or ACMS - it is an old antiquated system. You can’t submit PDFs for example generated from anything other than Adobe Acrobat or exported from Microsoft word.

7 points by zoobab 2y ago

Literally nobody cares Lawyers will use whatever tool they know best for their job. And protip, LibreOffice is rarely that

zoobab 2y ago
Supporters of the FSF maybe?
ndegruchy 2y ago
Yeah, unless this is someone at the FSF, you don't really get to tell your attorney what tools they use. Sure, FSF could try and find someone who aligns with their beliefs, but often that's not feasible.

theandrewbailey 2y ago

They must have used MS Office because Libreoffice doesn't save in DOCX. Oh wait https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/libreoffice/ https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/libreoffice/ A DOCX file alone isn't enough evidence that MS Office was used.

egberts1 2y ago

Many archiac court systems still demand filings in MS-Word. The export features in Libreword is pretty good. https://help.libreoffice.org/25.2/en-US/search?P=Docx&DEFAULTOP=or&xFILTERS=.%7E%7E https://help.libreoffice.org/25.2/en-US/search?P=Docx&DEFAUL...

taylodl 2y ago

What a garbage "article." From the garbage pile: "Could the FSF not find any law firm that, in addition to talking about or for Free software, does not use .NET, OOXML, and almost everything Microsoft? Even in 2025?" One, no you cannot. Lawyers live in the world of Microsoft Office. Two, one does not choose a law firm based off the tools they use.

malicka 2y ago
Par for the course with Techrights, unfortunately.

tiahura 2y ago

The federal system, and every state ecf system I’ve seen, requires PDF. I’ve tried Star / Open / Libre Office every year since 9x. They still aren’t as robust as Word 6 for Windows 3.1 released 35 years ago.

snvzz 2y ago

FSF has never been opposed to using privative software when there's no alternative. Presumably, compatibility concerns forced them to.

acefaceZ 2y ago
Exactly - the court system does not accept PDFs generated by most open source tools. Pretty crazy. Adobe and Microsoft must love that.

acefaceZ 2y ago

If you are familiar with pacer or ACMS - it is an old antiquated system. You can’t submit PDFs for example generated from anything other than Adobe Acrobat or exported from Microsoft word.