Capitalizing on free software.

• Author: Smith, Sear

WITH TODAY'S TOUGH FISCAL challenges it may be difficult for many offices to keep up with the latest in technology. From digital evidence to recorded interrogations, it is challenging for offices to give their staff the latest tools to make the most of this evidence at trial.

In addition, as the Internet becomes an increasingly popular tool for attorneys to use to research information about witnesses, case intricacies, forensics, etc., it is important to balance office security while allowing prosecutors access to valuable resources like social networks, popular people finders, and other sites where prosecutors can find valuable case information.

RECYCLING WITH A TWIST

It is not uncommon for offices to have several older computers that are no longer being used because they just do not have the processing power to keep up with the latest applications, or have become too bogged down with documents and no longer have any storage space available. Instead of throwing these machines away, think about reusing them for other purposes like a library computer with increased access to the Internet or as media stations that can be used to edit 911 calls or interrogation videos.

Sure they will never be speed-racer machines, but with some reformatting and an installation of the latest free open-source software, these machines may come back to life and even have a few years left. Plus, the tech skills required to wipe an old computer and reformat it is minimal.

UBUNTU

Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution that is currently distributed as free and open-source software. Ubuntu is a light-weight operating system that works well on most computers, even older computers, because it doesn't require the "latest and greatest" in processing power to function. Your office probably has several computers that meet the minimum requirements for running this operating system because it has very low overhead compared to Microsoft's Windows. The Minimum System Requirements for Ubuntu are:

By today's standards and what is currently being packaged on computers available at any big box store, these requirements are very minimal. In fact, some of the newer smart phones have significantly more processing power than the minimum required to run Ubuntu. The minimal requirements for Ubuntu means that it should work on almost any computer built after 2001. And even if the computer doesn't have less than 512 megabytes of RAM, it could still...