Microsoft Word

[Janina Sajka]

About Microsoft Word ...

There are several ways to pull text out of Word files, but I want
to ask first whether you'd like to join the campaign to get
people to stop doing that.

Notice the last line in my signature below. Please consider
putting something like that in your $home/mail/.signature file.

PS: Yes, if you don't have one, just create one with pico! <grin>

When people send me word or PowerPoint, here's what I send them
in return. I do this often enough that I keep this as a file, as
$HOME/mail/noword:


You sent me a document in Microsoft Word format, a secret proprietary format, so it is hard for me to read. If you send me plain text or HTML, 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 when viewed with a
different version of Word. They may even not work at all.

Receiving Word attachments is bad for you because they can carry viruses (see http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/acro.html). Sending Word
documents is also bad for you, because a Word document normally includes hidden information about the author, enabling those in the know to pry into
the author's activities (maybe yours). Text that you think you deleted may still be embarrassingly present. See
http://www.microsystems.com/Shares_Well.htm for more info.

But above all, sending people Word documents puts pressure on them to use Microsoft software and helps to deny them any other choice. In effect, you
become a buttress of the Microsoft monopoly. This pressure is a major obstacle to the broader adoption of free software. Would you please reconsider
the use of Word format for communication with other people?

To convert the file to HTML is simple. Open the document, click on File, then Save As, and in the Save As Type strip box at the bottom of the box,
choose HTML Document or Web Page. Then choose Save. You can then attach the new HTML document instead of your Word document. Note that Word changes
in inconsistent ways--if you see slightly different menu item names, please try them.

To convert to plain text is almost the same--instead of HTML Document, choose Text Only or Text Document as the Save As Type.


-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina at afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org