I find myself in eternal battle with people who insist on sending me files in Microsoft Word format. There is no reason for this - it is a terrible idea. Below I list in no particular order some if the reasons why.
Note: Clearly enspried by my thoughts :) RMS wrote something on the subject.
- Word costs a lot of money. Why do people still spent hundreds of pounds on a word processor when Star Office or KOffice or AbiWord are available for download at no cost? Can you afford to use Word?
- Word only works on Windows or MacOS. People who use Linux or Solaris or any other operating system can't use it. Heck it doesn't even work under Windows quite a lot. Both Star Office and AbiWord are much more portable to run.
- Word is proprietary software. You might have noticed that you aren't allowed to copy your MS Word or Office CD and give your friend their own version to use. Technical people might also have noticed that you don't get the source code for the program. If you believe half of what the click through license says there are a good many other things that you can't do as well. Why do we accept such restrictions on our personal freedom? Well users of free software don't. Free software can be copied and changed by whoever has a copy. You are no longer at the mercy of the software vendor. Example of free software word processors are Open Office (unbranded Star Office 6), AbiWord and KOffice.
- Word documents are deliberately hard to read. They are designed so that you can only reliably read them with MS Word itself. Heck even Word has trouble reading and writing all it's past versions of .doc files. Actually Word files can be read with some reliability by Star Office and wvware but the only certain way to get your file sent is to use a portable format. Think about it, do you really have a reason not to use plain ASCII or extended ASCII text? If you do then how about HTML or RTF or PDF (which can be written without Acrobat despite what Adobe might want you to think, try Ghostscript)?
- Not everyone uses Word. Believe it or not there are choices out there usually cheaper and with more freedoms than Word, see those mentioned above. If you don't expect to receive files in KWord format why should I receive them in MS Word format?
- Word files are large. Far larger than they have to be. Try comparing the size of a word file to that of a text file.
- They can contain information on past revisions. Someone may well be able to see the text you thought you had deleted
- The format is ever changing. Will you be able to read your own files in 5 years time? Plain ASCII hasn't changed in decades.
- Macro viruses. Like most Microsoft products Word is about as secure as leaving a one hundred pound note in the middle of the street. Plain text files can be opened without fear.
- They can't be read over the web or on a text console. HTML or text files can be read over the web, to read a Word file you have to start up Word. Many people still use text consoles. For example I access my e-mail on a computer at my university which I can access from anywhere through telnet/ssh. I can read a text file or even HTML over this but Word files mean I have to copy them to my local computer and start up another program.
- By using Word files you are supporting Microsoft's monopoly of the desktop computer market. Having one company controlling the pace of progress in computing is a very bad idea. A monopoly will always be bad for the consumers, as an example see the recent changed to the way MS sells Word and other software to businesses - they have to upgrade every two years - it's not yours, you don't own it, all your base are belong to MS. Most people are better off with the alternatives and in the long run we all will be, why not use them?
- Clippit the paperclip.
So next time you feel like writing something ask yourself if Notepad (or emacs - the super text editor/operating system for technical types) might not be a better choice, or at least consider Star Office before you go out and buy Office XP, think of that promotion you'll get by saving hundreds of pounds.
Jonathan Riddell 19 November 2001
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