Posted on 05/10/2006 7:45:08 AM PDT by ShadowAce
A trade association has blasted the Massachusetts Information and Technology Division (IDT) for requesting a plug-in for Microsoft's Office Suite, seizing on the issue as evidence that the state's policy of mandating the OpenDocument Format (ODF) is "a biased, open source-only preference policy."
The request for proposal (RFP) was posted last Wednesday but the OpenDocument Foundation Inc. said two days later that it has such a plug-in and it will be submitted soon to the IDT.
Late Monday, Melanie Wyne, executive director of the Initiative for Software Choice (ISC), said in a statement: "The RFP reveals that the choice presented by the previous ITD bureaucrats – i.e., ODF-compliant desktops for state agencies are the only viable options for citizens to have access to their data in the future – was purposely exclusionary, being primarily designed to distort the competitive landscape.
"In other words, it had little to do with access to documents, and everything to do with excluding proprietary software providers."
The ISC is a unit of CompTIA, which has supported Microsoft in its ongoing battles over the Massachusetts policy and, more recently, in the software giant's struggles with regulators in the European Union.
Wyne noted that "other governments" have closely followed the Massachusetts policy, which mandates that the state's documents be preserved in ODF starting in January. She railed away at what she called "a specious administrative process" that led to the mandate in Massachusetts complaining that the policy was really "an open source-only objective."
The IDT last updated the RFP last Wednesday.
Wyne observed that the issue is also important in Europe where EU regulators have not promoted ODF-compliant standards.
Microsoft is scheduled to release its Office 2007 version in January at about the same time Massachusetts is committed to implement the ODF-only policy. However, Microsoft is expected to try again with Massachusetts state officials after it receives expected approval for its new office software from the ECMA European standards body.
Do you ever comprehend anything as it really is, or do you filter everything you read through that MS filter of yours?
This whole debate was about formats, not products. The proof is the fact that it was a FOSS group that produced the MS plugin. If they just wanted certain products, they would not have produced that plugin.
Open format means you don't need legacy applications to read data just a new application that supports that format.
LOL no you're not because you wanted Anyone But Microsoft loaded on those computers
Please find a place where anyone said that, you're barely able to keep track of your own thoughts so please refrain from trying to read the thoughts of others. I have said from the beginning that an open format is most important and after that price/performance. With this plugin MS will probably win the price performance so thats what I *WANT* the government to use.
instead all you're getting is a plugin that may or may not even be used significantly or long term.
Could be the plugin will not be what is used (now MS might undertake the work effort of writing their own / build in ODF support), but it does allow MS to bid on contracts for departments that require ODF. This expands consumer choice and for that I am happy.
If you want something better than Microsoft on those computers, then come up with something better, but using government mandates to force feed specific products
ODF is not a product is a documented open format.
They only developed it after it became obvious they weren't going to ditch MS, under any circumstance. The open source pushers proved they could do it in no time, had the format alone been their original goal.
Exactly--which is why they wanted the state to standardize on the format. As soon as MA did, and requested the plugin, it was produced. Why didn't MS simply say "OK" and produce the plugin themselves?
Because they wanted the state locked in to a format that MS controlled. That's the issue.
This is like arguing a calculus proof with an elementary student. The concepts just have no meaning to him.
No one, anywhere, ever asked that MA "ditch MS" as you claim.
The plug in was obviously easy to do, but only now do we get it, because they originally wanted a wholesale switch for no good reason.
How many times has MS switched its default document format in the last 10 years? How many documents produced more than 10 years ago can still be read by the current version of Office?
That is the reason why they wanted the change to an open format--so that documents produced today could still be accessed 15, 20, or 25 years from now.
Yes, formats will change, but with this open format, we will be able to produce applications that could read this format without having to ask permission from a proprietary company.
No single company should be able to control document formats that any level/branch/office of government produces.
That's the issue. Take control over government documents away from a single vendor, and give it back to the people. If you want to use a certain vendor's product, fine. No one is stopping you, or even recommending against it.
No current format will be easy to read in 20 years. If you're not happy ~90 percent of people use MS then build something better that those users will migrate to OWN THEIR OWN.
Non-sequitor, and not part of the discussion.
I personally don't care what people use. I happen to believe that Linux is better, but I won't force it on anyone.
LOL you'll have to change your tagline, homepage, and future posts to have any chance of anyone believing that!
"LOL no you're not because you wanted Anyone But Microsoft loaded on those computers, and instead all you're getting is a plugin that may or may not even be used significantly or long term."
Your tiny little mind won't let you think anything else. Because in your mind, the whole ODF issue is Microsoft vs. Mass. and the rest of the world.
I don't care if Mass. uses Microsoft. If they think that's the best value for the money, then more power to them. But, I'm also in favor of the government getting what they want in terms of something that will save data in an open format, and not buying Microsoft just because they've always bought Microsoft.
Net result - now anyone can make Office compatible with ODF, which makes it compatible with OO, which makes it possible to edit documents many years down the road, or at least write software that will. Everyone wins. Yay!
With all due respect sir, you're the one doing the pushing on this thread...
I happen to prefer Open Document format. It's easier for me to read, create, and send off documents. I don't think Word is horrible--OpenOffice is just a personal preference.
And yes, I still say this after taking a MS Word class this semester.
As for governments adopting Open Document, I see it becoming a popular format along the lines of PDF.
Finally, if you say that ShadowAce is pushing Linux on people, then please show us the exact and unadulterated post where he did it.
Yeah we know you love all things open source, probably what they're teaching you kids these days in your political science classes, isn't that what you're majoring in? Here's the real world, from the Wall Street Journal.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114727136610348924-Et3a0yO82d_xJdMWN_y8xKXLl7c_20060521.html?mod=blogs
Linux and Open Office suck, unless wasting all your time trying to get your computer to work actually gives you some sort of enjoyment.
No, they don't teach the OS Holy Wars in my classes.
Computers and my major are two separate entities. One's my hobby, the other's my future profession.
"Linux and Open Office suck, unless wasting all your time trying to get your computer to work actually gives you some sort of enjoyment."
Sorry to hear that. I prefer using it, and I don't use up a lot of time trying to get it to work. Truth be told, I've spent more time getting Windows set up than I did with Linux.
If you don't like it, you don't have to use it. Neither I nor anyone else here is forcing you (or anyone else here) to take up Linux. If you want to use Windows and shill for it, that's your opinion. And we all believe you're entitled to it.
But that doesn't give you an excuse to come here and badmouth me or any of the other posters.
So here's a novel idea--why not post pro-MS threads and start a MS ping list? That way, you can leave us alone and work with people who think like you.
Finally, yes, I have a fried CD-RW drive. But that's a hardware issue. I'd have the same problem if I was running all MS software...
Sorry to hear about your fried drive, but reverse engineered drivers like your freeware often uses could very well be what caused it. Of course I'm sure you're convinced they're somehow actually better LMAO.
I know what it is. I used the drive too much and literally wore it out. It won't read anymore. Using it for six hours a day for six months--booting, burning, etc. will do that.
Plus, I can tell that the same result happens in Windows and Linux.
If it was solely a Windows problem, I wouldn't have the problem in Linux (or vice-versa).
Good thing you aren't planning to make a career out of your troubleshooting and logic skills...
Hmmm...
It appears to me that the major issue the author had with Linux is interoperability with Microsoft and other proprietary formats (Apple Itunes, etc.).
Wonder who's keeping those formats a secret? (and more importantly, why that would be the fault of Linux?).
Besides, the author concedes that Linux might be a good thing for some people, but not for everybody, just as we all do.
What other problems are you having? Oven blow up? Car break down? Anal leakage? Irreversible liver and kidney damage? All those are probably Linux's fault too.
Did you know that 100% of all Linux users eventually die?
Wow. Using my "troubleshooting and logic skills" like GE is fun! All you have to do is stuff cotton in your ears and say everything's Linux's fault!
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