The best things in life are always free

http://www.fsf.org/news/why-im-rejecting-your-email-attachment

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA — Wednesday, March 31, 2010 — The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today launched a campaign calling on all
computer users to start politely rejecting email attachments sent in
secret and proprietary formats: for freedom and the good of the web!

The campaign is in support of Document Freedom Day and the OpenDocument
format. OpenDocument is an ISO standard that allows anyone to create
software that supports it, without fear of patent claims or licensing
issues. Documents, spreadsheets and presentations sent in Microsoft Word
or Excel native formats, or documents created in Apple’s iWorks, are
proprietary and incompatible with freedom and an accessible web.

“If we are serious about gaining freedom and accessibility for all users
of technology and the web, we must demand an end to proprietary document
formats. The best way to get started is for each of us to take
responsibility and begin rejecting their use. OpenDocument is available
now, as is free software such as OpenOffice.org that allows anyone to
create OpenDocument files at no cost. If we can convince the 300 Million
users who have already downloaded OpenOffice.org, to reject proprietary
formats we could quickly secure a victory. Let’s do this for freedom and
the good of the web,” said FSF executive director Peter Brown.

The campaign highlights ways in which emails that include attachments in
secret or proprietary formats can be politely rejected, and the issue
explained to the sender. Users can respond individually, or email
administrators can configure their systems to automatically reject such
messages.

FSF campaigns manager Matt Lee added, “For governments, businesses,
archivists and others, it’s critical that documents be stored in a way
that guarantees they can be read for years to come. This hasn’t been a
problem for printed matter, but proprietary digital file formats are
secretive by nature and get changed every few years, putting at risk
future access to needed documents. We must ensure that documents we
store on our computers and that are made available on the web are
accessible regardless of what computer you use.”

The FSF is providing graphics that supporters can use to promote the
campaign at http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/opendocument/spread.

Reject proprietary formats and use OpenDocument:
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/opendocument/reject

Learn about OpenDocument: http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/opendocument

Learn about Document Freedom Day: http://documentfreedom.org/