____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Tuesday 03 July 2007 01:30 : \____
> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
> <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote
> on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:41:55 +0100
> <1701077.krgLiJpKcB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>> Microsoft document formats gain Mass. favor
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Massachusetts caused a stir among governments and the technology industry
>> | nearly two years ago when it mandated the use of "open formats" in desktop
>> | applications.
>> |
>> | [...]
>> |
>> | "We completely agree: ooXML looks backward, while ODF is an international
>> | ISO standard, and is forward looking. The public understands this, too,
>> | as nearly 15,000 people opposing ooXML have signed an online petition
>> | circulated by the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure. We
>> | look forward to seeing the public discussion in the Commonwealth," Sutor
>> | said in a statement.
>> `----
>>
>> http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6194542.html
>>
>> So, they pressured CIOs out of their jobs and replaced them with Microsoft
>> lobbyists. To the corrupt monopoly, this is a happy ending.
>
> It is also the correct ending, AFAICT. OOXML is
> technically an open format (though a morass of messy
> specifications, but the specifications *are* there).
>
> That Massachusettes allows it for consideration by no
> means guarantee their acceptance thereof, although we'll
> have to see.
>
> Hopefully Microsoft actually gets to compete on the
> *merits*, and not simply because someone armtwisted
> an Assemblyman. I do not like arbitrary exclusion of
> candidates -- even monopolistically-inclined ones.
> Of course I like monopolistic behavior even less.
For many other reasons, OOXML is not open (or /free/ rather). It's not even
legally 'safe' to implement, but it's one of those grey areas with deliberate
uncertainty. Mono likewise. They want people to adopt Mono and OOXML and later
they can threaten. It's like piracy (let them adopt it, then accuse them of
piracy). Bob Sutor (IBM's standards man) has some good discussions about it.
>> Related:
>>
>> MA Governor-Elect Names MS Anti-ODF Lobbyist to Technology Advisory Group
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | That person is Brian Burke, the Microsoft Regional Director for
>> | Public Affairs, and if that surprises you, it surprises me as well,
>> | given the degree of acrimonious debate and disinformation witnessed
>> | in Massachusetts over the last 15 months involving the Information
>> | Technology Division's transition to ODF.
>> `----
>>
>>
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20061128161343183
>>
>
> Interesting tactic. Hopefully the worker bees at least
> ask some intelligent questions.
>
> Not sure if the voters can. Most voters would know the
> diff between the two; a document's a document. Of course,
> if one can't read the proprietary format of the document
> from rev to rev, one has a very large issue from an
> operations/governmental standpoint.
>
>>
>> Interview with Christian Fernandez, of Binary Freedom
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Unfortunately, companies like Microsoft have thrown around their
>> | financial and political weight to combat our work. They defeated a
>> | measure in Florida through lobbying and the only way this abuse will
>> | stop is if we continue to fight them.
>> `----
>>
>>
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/interview_christian_fernandez_binary_freedom
>>
>
> True!
I know this guy and he seems determined to help. He actually lives in that
state. He is close to the places where abuse of the system takes place.
>> Second CIO:
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | As CIO of Massachusetts from February to November last year, Louis
>> | Gutierrez had to endure most of the brunt of Microsoft Corp.'s political
>> | wrath over a state policy calling for the adoption of the Open Document
>> | Format for Office Applications, or ODF -- a rival to the software vendor's
>> | Office Open XML file format.
>> `----
>>
>>
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012760&source=rss_news50
>>
>>
>> First CIO:
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Quinn: Almost to a person, to anybody involved or who knows about
>> | the ODF issue, they attributed the story to Microsoft, right, wrong
>> | or otherwise. Senator Pacheco may be a bully but I do not believe he
>> | is disingenious and would stoop to such a tactic. Senator Pacheco and
>> | Secretary Galvin's office remain very heavily influenced by the
>> |
>> | Microsoft money and its lobbyist machine, as witnessed by their
>> | playbook and words, in my opinion.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060119232859729
>>
>>
>> State's move to open formats not a mass migration
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | And Microsoft itself lobbied heavily against the original open formats
>> | policy after it was announced by the ITD.
>> |
>> | [...]
>> |
>> | The slower-than-planned adoption of ODF in Massachusetts appears to
>> | have influenced state legislators in Texas who recently quashed a
>> | bill calling for the use of open document formats -- one of five
>> | such proposals that have been defeated or shelved in the U.S. this
>> | year following strong opposition from Microsoft and its allies in
>> | the IT industry.
>> `----
>>
>>
http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2007/060807-states-move-to-open-formats.html?fsrc=rss-linux-news
>
> This doesn't look like a done deal to me. Watch this space. :-)
Done, not done (or undone), it's important that it remains known how we got
here. There's a lot of monkey business.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Wintendo O/S: which virus do fancy today?
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