Quick Answer: A free software law firm runs open-source tools at every layer: Debian and GNOME on the desktop, Thunderbird and mutt for email, Syncthing for file sync, Vaultwarden for passwords, and self-hosted services like Kimai and paperless-ngx on the back end. One small English firm has done this for about five years, and its 2026 stack shows what works, what breaks, and what gets switched off.
Running a free software law firm is less about ideology than it sounds. It's about whether the daily work gets done without fighting your tools. Neil Brown runs decoded.legal, a small practice focused on Internet, telecoms, and tech law, and he publishes an annual 2026 update listing every application he uses. Most lists like this read like catalogues. This one is useful because it's candid about what fails and what he dropped.
Start With the Desktop, and Check the Hardware First
Brown runs Debian with GNOME on a ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6. The software side has been stable. The hardware hasn't. The Thunderbolt and USB-C ports handle power fine but are "very flaky for data," and he may need to replace the machine.
Here's the lesson most migration guides skip: Linux compatibility is a hardware purchase decision, not a software afterthought. Before you buy, check the vendor's Linux support page and the community hardware wikis, and test the data ports on a live USB, not just the charging.
Brown's Yoga has one feature he values: the folding screen works well for marking up documents. That's a reminder that the form factor you pick affects how you work, so choose it on purpose.
Email and Calendars: Keyboard-First, With a Safety Net
Brown uses Thunderbird for most email and mutt when he's doing focused work. Two add-ons do most of the heavy lifting for filing: Quick Folder Move and Move Message And Yourself. Both let him file mail with keyboard shortcuts, which matters when a law firm handles a steady stream of correspondence.
Calendars are where the stack gets messy. Thunderbird has trouble with some recurring invitations, so Brown uses ikhal, a terminal calendar, for those. He hasn't tracked down the cause, and he says it's "a nuisance." That's an honest trade-off: you keep two tools because one has a gap, and you accept the duplication.
This is where most guides go wrong. They assume a single client handles everything. In practice, you'll often need a fallback for the one feature your main tool gets wrong.
Documents, Presentations, and the Word Problem
Opposing lawyers and many clients live in Microsoft Word, so Brown keeps LibreOffice Writer for exchanging .docx files. For his own drafting, he writes in Markdown in vim and converts with pandoc and typst. He also wants to explore LaTeX, because one client prefers diffs of their .tex files, which Git-style review handles cleanly.
Presentations use reveal.js. A bash script generates a new project template, and the slides are plain Markdown styled with CSS. Brown calls it "nicely-formatted with very little effort, and no distracting GUI."
The catch with Writer is round-tripping. Complex .docx formatting such as tracked changes, numbered clauses, and nested styles can shift when you save back and forth. If a document has to go out to another firm, check the rendered file before you send it.
Running the Back Office on Your Own Hardware
Brown's servers now run mostly on Intel NUCs, with a few Raspberry Pis left over. The useful pattern is that each service maps to a real job:
- Syncthing for file sync, with radicale for CalDAV and CardDAV
- Kimai v2 for time tracking
- EspoCRM for matter management
- InvoicePlane, used only to generate PDF invoices that clients never log into
- paperless-ngx for document scanning, with the firm aiming to be paperless
- LiberaForms for the "Know Your Client" pre-engagement questionnaire
- dokuwiki with a Markdown plugin for the firm's policies and procedures
The counter-intuitive part is that the biggest wins came from turning things off. Brown dropped Nextcloud because it "was causing me more problems than it solved." He switched video calls from a self-hosted Jitsi server to Signal, because he was running Jitsi for very little usage. He shut down CryptPad because nobody used it, and he stopped running the decoded.legal Fediverse instance and his DoH server.
The common advice says more self-hosted services mean more control. Brown's experience says each unused service carries patching work and attack surface without delivering value. Audit usage annually and retire what nobody touches.
Security: Where Free Software Earns Its Keep, and Where It Doesn't
Security is the area where a law firm can't afford to be casual. Brown's setup layers several free tools. Passwords live in Bitwarden clients connected to a Vaultwarden server, with YubiKeys for the most sensitive credentials. Disks use LUKS encryption. Files are encrypted client-side with Cryptomator before they sync through Syncthing. Backups run through restic and rsync. Monitoring covers Uptime Kuma, Greenbone/OpenVAS vulnerability scanning, and a Wazuh SIEM.
The trade-off is ownership. A hosted password manager has a vendor responsible for uptime and backups. With Vaultwarden, that responsibility is yours. If the server fails and you have no offline export, you're locked out of your own accounts. Keep an encrypted export somewhere that doesn't depend on the server you're protecting.
There's a regulatory angle too. A solicitor in England and Wales has duties of confidentiality, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority expects firms to manage client data responsibly. Free software doesn't exempt you from that. Document your choices, your backups, and who can access what, because you'll need that trail if something goes wrong.
Where Free Software Costs You, and the Mobile Question
Brown's clients mostly use Microsoft or Apple software, and he reports "zero problems" working with them. That's a real result, but the cost shifts to him. He handles the .docx conversions, joins other people's Teams and Zoom meetings through Firefox, and accepts that some clients will never use Signal.
| Need | Brown's choice | Common commercial alternative | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| File sync | Syncthing (peer-to-peer, no central server required) | Nextcloud (self-hosted server) or Dropbox (vendor-hosted) | Syncthing avoids a central server but offers no web-based sharing UI |
| Password management | Bitwarden clients with Vaultwarden server | 1Password or hosted Bitwarden | You own backups and uptime, but you control where data lives |
| Video calls | Signal, with Jitsi retired | Zoom or Microsoft Teams | Signal suits small calls; client-hosted meetings still go through their platform |
| Mobile OS | GrapheneOS on a Pixel, with F-Droid | Stock Android or iOS | Stronger hardening, but Pixel hardware still runs proprietary firmware, including the baseband |
On mobile, Brown has tried postmarketOS, Ubuntu Touch, and Sailfish OS. None did what he needed as well as GrapheneOS. He's frank that using Android "doesn't thrill" him, given Google's direction. Here's the nuance: GrapheneOS is the most hardened option he's found, not a fully free device. Say that plainly when you explain your setup to clients.
A Practical Order for Migrating a Small Practice
If you're moving a small firm toward free software, don't switch everything at once. Brown's stack suggests this order:
- Audit every service for real usage over a year, and retire anything nobody uses.
- Check hardware for Linux compatibility, especially ports and docking, before replacing laptops.
- Move low-risk file workflows first, such as Syncthing with client-side encryption through Cryptomator.
- Set up a password manager with an offline backup before you move anything else.
- Keep a fallback for every tool that has a known gap, like ikhal for calendar invites.
Most guides skip step 5. Don't.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a law firm run on free software?
Yes, with caveats. Decoded.legal runs its client-side and server-side work on open-source tools, including Debian, Thunderbird, Syncthing, Vaultwarden, and self-hosted services. It still needs Word-compatible output for other lawyers and must join clients' Teams or Zoom meetings. Plan for those gaps rather than assuming they'll go away.
What is a free software law firm?
A free software law firm uses open-source applications for its core work, such as email, documents, file storage, and client records. The aim is control over data and tools, not just zero cost. Decoded.legal is an example: it runs everything from Debian desktops to self-hosted matter management on its own hardware.
How do I set up a small law firm on Linux?
Start with hardware that supports Linux well, then move one workflow at a time. Keep an offline backup for any password manager before you migrate. Choose tools with a clear rationale, such as Syncthing for peer-to-peer file sync, and keep a fallback for each known gap.
Why did decoded.legal switch from Nextcloud to Syncthing?
Brown found Nextcloud "was causing me more problems than it solved." He moved file sync to Syncthing and calendars and contacts to radicale. Syncthing doesn't require a central server, which simplified his setup. The cost is that you lose a web-based sharing interface, so consider whether your clients need one.
Running a free software law firm works when you match each tool to a real job, check it against your daily workflow, and retire what doesn't earn its place. Pick one workflow this week, such as email filing or password management, and move it to a free tool. Note what breaks and what you'd keep. Pass this to a colleague who's wrestling with the same problem of running a free software law firm on a tight budget.