Make a new year’s resolution to break your habit.
By Erik J. Heels
First published 5/17/2003; LawLawLaw Newsletter; Clock Tower Law Group
I have a theory that people use particular software programs and operating systems because they are addicted to them. You may deny that you are addicted to your software, but my theory (conveniently) includes denial as one of the symptoms of addiction. So kick the habit, try something new, pretend it’s January 1, and make a new year’s resolution to break your habit. I did just this yesterday, finally breaking my addiction to Microsoft Word by deleting it from all of my computers. Refreshing. Every product and every company has a beginning, a middle, and an end. In my opinion, open source software will continue to grow in popularity at the expense of (currently) dominant companies such as Microsoft. By the way, I switched from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice.org (http://www.openoffice.org/) in January.
