Network Consulting and PC Support
dave@NOSPAMdavemarkowitz.net (Remove "NOSPAM" to send me mail.)
(610) 389-1724
Yahoo! Messenger: dave_markowitz
AOL Instant Messenger: dmarkowitz527
Linux & Lawyers - Reprise
Back in February of 1999 I submitted my first post to the Technolawyer list, entitled "Linux & Lawyers." In it I gave an overview of the state of Linux development and how law firms might employ it to their advantage. However, Linux has developed at warp speed since then, so I felt the time was ripe for revisiting the topic.
The Linux operating system (OS) was originally created in the early 1990s by Finnish computer science student Linus Torvalds, and has grown into a mature and robust operating system with the help of thousands of hackers and programmers worldwide. It is currently widely used to provide network infrastructure services, including Web serving, DNS, DHCP, and firewall services. It is also employed as a file and print server to Windows and MacIntosh clients in many networks, and many people use it as their desktop operating system of choice.
Strengths of Linux:
Because it is "open source," i.e., the source code is freely available to anyone; security holes and bugs are rapidly found and fixed.
It's cheap. In fact, it's available for download at no cost, or from commercial sources at relatively nominal cost. E.g., $79.95 for SuSE Linux Professional, which includes literally thousands of applications on seven CDs, or 1 DVD. Once you buy or download a distribution, you can install it on as many machines as you want without paying a separate license fee, nor do you need to pay for client access licenses. This is true for not only the Linux OS itself, but also for many of the included applications.It is a clone of UNIX, the family of OSes which runs many high-end computers, including most of the servers which run the Internet. Because of this, Linux is incredibly stable. It is not unusual for a web or FTP running Linux to remain up without a reboot for months on end.
Again because the design of Linux follows that of UNIX, it is fundamentally more secure than Windows. This is especially true of recent distributions which have placed an emphasis on security. Linux also does not suffer from the glut of viruses that plague Windows users, nor would it be easy for one to write a virus that could damage a system in the way that many Windows viruses do. This security, along with its stability, help reduce the total cost of ownership by keeping maintenance costs low.
In small office environments fairly low-end PCs that would otherwise be discarded into a landfill can be recycled by loading Linux on them. For example, that old 486 in your closet can be put back into use as a firewall for your Internet connection, and also provide you with local DHCP and DNS service. (Come to think of it, that makes Linux environmentally friendly. :-))
Like UNIX, Linux can be used as a network OS (NOS), like Novell NetWare or Windows 2000 Server, or as a desktop operating system, such as Windows 2000 Professional, XP, or a Mac.
While initial installation and setup of Linux used to be a bear, this is no longer the case with recent distributions like SuSE 7.3, Red Hat 7.3, or Mandrake 8.2. In fact, so much progress has been made in this area in the past three years that I often find it easier to setup Linux on a machine than Windows. For example, I recently setup a Dell Latitude laptop as a dual-boot system running Windows 98SE (for which it was designed) and SuSE 7.3. SuSE was much easier to configure, and did a better job of loading the correct video driver.
Linux is now widely-supported by major players in the enterprise, such as IBM and Oracle, and often local consultants can support it.
All current distributions of Linux ship with strong remote management tools. For example, secure shell (ssh) provides completely encrypted communications over a network, and can be used to "tunnel" other applications over insecure networks, like the Internet.
Drawbacks of Linux:
Also like the commercial UNIXes, e.g. Sun Solaris, the learning curve can be steep for users coming from a Windows environment. Although Linux has it's own optional graphical user interface (GUI), the X Window System, AKA "X", setup of programs is often more involved than in MS Windows. Recent versions of the KDE GUI make Linux about as easy to use as Windows for day to day computing tasks, however.
If you need to go to the command line, the OS is more complex to than MS Windows. To users accustomed to PCs running Windows, the Linux file system will seem alien. E.g., there are no drive letters and everything is case sensitive. So "file.txt" is not the same as "FILE.TXT".
Hardware support is generally pretty good, but it still doesn't support as much hardware as MS Windows. For most office systems this isn't a problem, but this is not a problem limited to Linux. Windows XP is still missing drivers for many peripherals.
There is a lack of legal-specific software. Although there are many applications which are available for Linux PCs, including the WordPerfect suite, the only case management software that runs on Linux that I am aware of is Time Matters. The Enterprise and World Editions can run their back end database on Linux, and the standard edition can save its data files to a network share running on a Linux server.
Linux in the Law Firm:
Probably the best place to introduce Linux into law firm use is not as a desktop operating system, but rather, to run servers and other back end services. Any firm which requires specialized legal software for their workstations will unfortunately find that most such titles run only on Windows or Mac OS. Timeslips is an example.
Using Samba, you can setup a machine to provide basic file and print services to your Windows clients; you can do the same with Netatalk if you're a Mac shop. Both of these programs are free and robust solutions that often outperform their commercial counterparts in terms of speed, stability, and security. So even if they are a bit harder to setup, maintenance costs over the equipment's life cycle tend to be reduced.
If your office has a high speed Internet connection, you can use a standard PC with two network cards running Linux as a firewall and proxy server, to secure your network and make more efficient use of your bandwidth. This same machine can be used to create a virtual private network server, running software like ssh or FreeS/WAN, providing you with secure remote access to your network. Even if you don't have a full time Internet connection, a PC running Linux can be used to share a dialup line for client PCs on your network.
Linux is an exceptional platform for running an email server. Distributions typically ship with a variety of mail server software that complies with published Internet standards. For example, you can use the free Postfix server to send email, the free Courier IMAP and POP server to receive email, and free Squirrelmail for Web-based access to your mail while on the road.
If you need shared calendaring, you can use a variety of programs that are accessible through a Web browser, including phpGroupware or phprojekt.
The two biggest disadvantages faced by Linux when trying to integrate it into the legal environment on the desktop are that it is different from what people are already accustomed to and the dearth of legal-specific software titles, as mentioned previously. The first of these factors is mitigated by using a recent version of the KDE GUI, which is quite Windows-like. Whether or not you can get around the second factor will depend on how you manage your practice.
There are a variety of good desktop applications that run on Linux that can be used in a law firm. For example, general office suite tasks can be done with the WordPerfect for Linux suite, Sun's StarOffice or it's open source cousin, OpenOffice.org, or even Microsoft Office 97 or 2000 if you install the CodeWeavers CrossOver Office program. (The latter is still a bit buggy.) Web browsing can be handled with Netscape, Mozilla, KDE's Konqueror, or Opera. There are tons of email client programs available that run on Linux, such as KMail, Sylpheed, both of which work a lot like Outlook Express. There's also Ximian Evolution, designed to be an Outlook killer, and of course Netscape Mail. These often include tools that allow you to import your existing mail from your Windows email client. Palm Pilot users can use Kpilot or Jpilot, which is a spitting image of the Palm Desktop software for Windows.
Hopefully this reprise has provided food for thought on the current state of Linux as part of your law office's technology infrastructure. Most law firms will find that it makes an excellent replacement for proprietary systems that provide basic network services, although they may need to retain their Windows or MacIntosh desktops and laptops so they can run specialized applications. Other firms with less reliance on such specialized applications may find that the time is ripe to give Linux a try for end user computing.
Copyright 2003 - 2004 David S. Markowitz -- Back to Home