Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 30th Sep 2005 11:15 UTC, submitted by Sansta
The commonwealth of Massachusetts has finalised its decision to standardise desktop applications on OpenDocument, a format not supported by Microsoft Office. State agencies in the executive branch are now supposed to migrate to OpenDocument-compliant applications by 1 January, 2007, a change that will affect about 50 000 desktop PCs. The reference model also confirms that Adobe's PDF format is considered an "open format".
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Member since:
2005-07-18
On the one hand, you have an IT group that does not like the idea of vendor lock in. On the other hand, you have government officials who are subject to 'influence' from various places who may tug any line that will get them the most money for their next campaign drive. Who will win? Government pinheads or IT?
Personally, I think the decision to require an open format is a good one. It does not hinder Microsoft from competting so long as Microsoft plays the game according to the new rules.
Think of it this way: It is like Microsoft showing up to a US Football game with a Soccer ball and insisting on playing by their own rules seemingly made on the fly. The IT department is only asking them to play by rules everyone else has seen or contributed to and that everyone has equal access to - oh, and with the usual ball.