Group Accuses Massachusetts Government Of Open-Source Bias

Personaltechpipeline ^ | 09 May 2006 | W. David Gardner

[ShadowAce]

[DesScorp]

Translation: Microsoft accusses Massachussetts of open-source bias... :P

[ShadowAce]

Translation: Microsoft accusses Massachussetts of open-source bias

MS does of a lot of things using other entities--ISC, BSA, SCO....

[randog]

Microsoft is scheduled to release its Office 2007 version in January...

Gawd help us. Anyone else notice that Word just kept getting worse and worse with each release since, oh....Word 2.0?

[antiRepublicrat]

What a spin! It's the opposite. Many said the choice for ODF was about open source software instead of open formats, but the call for an MS ODF filter shows that they want to use Office, but need it to be able to write to their chosen open format.

[ShadowAce]

Anyone else notice that Word just kept getting worse and worse with each release since, oh....Word 2.0?

Use OpenOffice.org. It will cure you of your need to run MS Office.

And it's 99.99% compatible.

[N3WBI3]

A trade association has blasted the Massachusetts Information and Technology Division (IDT) for requesting a plug-in for Microsoft's Office Suite

So MA ask for a plugin to get a closed source application to keep to their standards (presumably so they can keep using it) and they are favoring opensource?

[randog]

It will cure you of your need to run MS Office.

LOL!! Check your link--I've Been Healed!!

[ShadowAce]

LOL!! Check your link...

LOL! I mispelled it. Try OpenOffice.org instead. It should help you with your immediate need better... :)

[steve-b]

So MA ask for a plugin to get a closed source application to keep to their standards (presumably so they can keep using it) and they are favoring opensource?

[FLAMING DEATH]

NB4GE

[zeugma]

What a spin! It's the opposite. Many said the choice for ODF was about open source software instead of open formats, but the call for an MS ODF filter shows that they want to use Office, but need it to be able to write to their chosen open format.

Indeed. What the heck are they bitching about?

I can't wait to see the MS-suckup spin on this one.

IBTT 

[Still Thinking]

Well, wanting an open document format seems quite reasonable, so calling it a "bias" is kind of like saying I have a "bias" for breathing air.

Seems to me they're being quite reasonable in trying to get proprietary packages set up to use the open formats so they can continue buying them. What's all the fuss?

[stainlessbanner]

< snicker >

[steve-b]

What the heck are they bitching about?

Basically, they're bitching because somebody figured out how to avoid being stuck on their upgrade-treadmill business model. If you use an open document format, your data can't be held hostage by any one vendor.

Saying that people have a "bias" in favor of open formats is like saying that they have a "bias" in favor of freedom. It's not a "bias", it's a rational preference.

[steve-b]

This attempt at astroturfing might be too absurd for even Tweety Bird to defend.

[DesScorp]

" And it's 99.99% compatible."

I stopped using MS Office last year, and am now weaning some of my staff away from it. I rarely have a problem opening anything with an MS format. And actually, the sweetest feature of OpenOffice is the Export to PDF feature. We see a lot of PDF's flying around, and OO makes it easty to take a page from Word or a Website, copy it, and make it a PDF file, with functioning hyperlinks. Sweet, sweet feature. And OO's Math and Draw apps are simply awesome if you need those capabilities.

[Golden Eagle]

And it's 99.99% compatible

Why then all the whining about needing another format no one else can read? We obviously don't need it, and if you're actually that compatible you obviously don't either.

[ShadowAce]

Why then all the whining about needing another format...

Why all the whining from MS and you shills when it's been proven a plugin for Office could've been produced in two days?