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Neil Brown, who runs the small English law firm decoded.legal, published a November 2026 update on the free software used in his practice. He describes a mostly self-hosted setup, including Debian, LibreOffice, Syncthing and Kimai, and explains that he replaced Nextcloud and stopped running a Jitsi server.
Neil Brown, owner of the small English law firm decoded.legal, has published a November 2026 update describing the free software he uses for the firm’s daily work, from document production and invoicing to file syncing and server administration. The report matters as a practical account of how one legal practice organizes its technology, though it does not establish that the same setup would suit other firms.
Brown says he began running the firm on free software on both client and server systems about five years ago. His desktop environment remains Debian with GNOME, used on a ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6. He uses LibreOffice Writer when exchanging Word documents with other lawyers, and writes other material in Markdown, using tools including Pandoc and Typst to convert it. For presentations, he uses reveal.js with Markdown and a script to prepare a template.
The report also lists tools for handling legal-office tasks: Evince and Xournal++ for reading and marking up PDFs, Espanso for text expansion, Paperless-ngx for scanning workflows, Bitwarden with a Vaultwarden server for passwords, and EspoCRM for matter management. Brown says he uses Kimai for time tracking and InvoicePlane to generate PDF invoices; clients do not interact with the invoicing software.
On the server side, Brown says he self-hosts everything in his list except Signal, and that he now uses mostly Intel NUC computers, with fewer Raspberry Pi devices than before. The most substantial change he reports is replacing Nextcloud for file synchronization with Syncthing, while using Radicale for calendar and contacts. He also shut down a Jitsi server after finding that he rarely used it, and now offers Signal for video calls.
How the Firm Handles Daily Work
The account gives readers a specific view of how a small law firm combines free software across work that can involve sensitive documents, client communications, time records and billing. Brown’s setup includes tools for local document work, encrypted storage and self-hosted services, but the report is an individual practitioner’s experience, not an audit or a general assessment of software security.
His description also shows that using free software is not a single all-or-nothing choice. Brown relies on desktop applications and services he operates himself, while also joining clients’ Microsoft Teams or Zoom meetings when invited and using Signal for his own video-call offering. His decisions about Nextcloud and Jitsi reflect his account of what was practical for his workload, rather than a claim that those products are unsuitable for others.
For other legal practices, the useful takeaway is the range of functions that must be covered: document compatibility, calendaring, secure access, billing, time tracking and maintenance of servers. The report does not provide cost comparisons or a full account of staffing and support, so readers cannot use it alone to estimate the resources required to adopt a similar system.
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From Earlier Software Updates
Brown says he first wrote about the firm’s free-software experience after roughly its first year, in 2022, and published another update in 2024. The November 2026 post responds to a recent question about what he is using now. He says most of the arrangement remains similar, with some changes.
Among those changes, Brown moved away from Nextcloud because, in his words, it was causing more problems than it solved for him. Syncthing now handles file synchronization, while Radicale provides CalDAV and CardDAV services. He also stopped running Jitsi because he was mostly joining meetings hosted by other people and was using his own server very little. These are reasons he gives for his choices, not independent evaluations of the services.
“I just was not getting on with [Nextcloud], and it was causing me more problems than it solved.”
— Neil Brown, decoded.legal
Limits of One Firm’s Account
The post describes Brown’s own software choices and experience, but does not quantify the firm’s technology costs, the time spent maintaining self-hosted services, or the security and compliance procedures surrounding them. It also does not compare the tools against commercial alternatives or report client feedback beyond saying he has had no complaints about the move from Jitsi to Signal.
Some details remain unresolved even in Brown’s own setup. He says the Thunderbolt and USB-C data ports on his ThinkPad are unreliable and that he may need a replacement, but he has not decided which laptop to buy. He also says he needs to move the firm’s mail infrastructure and wants to investigate Stalwart. The report does not give a timetable for either change.
Possible Hardware and Mail Changes
Brown’s next stated technology questions are whether to replace his laptop and how to move the firm’s mail infrastructure. He says he wants to look at Stalwart for email, while his current mail setup uses Postfix and Dovecot. No migration date or decision is given.
For now, the November update records the tools Brown says are in use, rather than announcing a broader rollout or a formal change in policy. Any further changes will depend on his hardware needs and review of the mail system; the report does not specify when another update will appear.
Key Questions
What is the news in the report?
Neil Brown published a November 2026 update listing the free software he uses to run decoded.legal and describing changes to the firm’s technology setup.
What did decoded.legal change for file synchronization?
Brown says he moved away from Nextcloud and now uses Syncthing for file synchronization, with Radicale for calendar and contact services. He says Nextcloud was causing him more problems than it solved.
Does the firm self-host all its services?
Brown says everything in his server-side list is self-hosted except Signal. He describes the list as covering the main applications, not every system the firm uses.
What software does the firm use for legal documents and billing?
Brown says he uses LibreOffice Writer for Word-document exchanges and InvoicePlane to generate PDF invoices. He also uses Kimai for time tracking and EspoCRM for matter management.
What changes might come next?
Brown may replace his ThinkPad because its USB-C and Thunderbolt ports are unreliable for data, and he wants to consider Stalwart as part of a future mail-infrastructure move. He has not announced a decision or schedule.
Source: decoded.legal
