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Re: [News] BECTA Still Against Microsoft OOXML

7 <website_has_email@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> 
>> Becta's response to the approval of Office Open XML
>> 
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | During the standard approval process Becta wrote to the British
>> | Standards committee responsible for co-ordinating the UK?s response to
>> | the proposed Office Open XML standard asking that it considers carefully
>> | whether two different ISO standards was the best outcome that could be
>> | achieved in this important area. We were clear that the interests of non
>> | technical users (including most teachers and parents) would be best
>> | served by a single standard which accommodated the existing Open
>> | Document Format (ODF) specification, and any extensions necessary to
>> | provide the required compatibility with various legacy Microsoft
>> | formats.
>> | 
>> | [...]
>> | 
>> | The issue of the interoperability with MS Office 2007 was a key factor
>> | underpinning Becta?s October 2007 complaint to the Office of Fair
>> | Trading (OFT), now superseded by the European Commission?s ongoing
>> | investigation.
>> `----
>> 
>> http://news.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=35948&page=1657&catID=1632
> 
> 
> 
> AWE PLEASE!
> 
> BECTA$ are no.1 game keeper turned poacher.
> Like the last time, these letters are cover for something they are up to
> behind our backs.
> 
> Look at the gist of message hidden inside the letter.
> We tried, but failed, so despite trying ODF,
> we will use OOXML like the good little bum boys we were
> to micoshaft the last time.
> Please report us to the European Commission - that won't matter
> because we will take the bribes and resign having sold out the
> entire UK education system with a contract to micoshaft with
> such steeply expensive get out clauses, that if you ever
> try undoing what we did, dim wits like you are gonna pay
> micoshaft double and tripple through penaly clauses.
> There is sweet FA you can do about it.
> Tata - it was nice knowing poor people like you - our chaufer driven
> cars are waiting to take us to the bank.
> 
> 


I think that Becta are quite rightly concerned that both the Lib Dems
and the Cons are backing foss harder and harder;  New Labour has always
grabbed anything going from the other parties as hard and rapidly as it
can, so I feel fairly certain that New Labour will adopt a pro foss
stand rapidly indeed.

This would leave Becta becalmed, so being the smart civil servants that
they are, they bend with the winds of change.  Contrast this with Ashley
Highfield, Eric Huggers and Adrian Farquar (BBC and British Library)
who haven't realised that the wind has already changed, and are
wondering why they're having to tack so hard in order to maintain
course.

I suspect that they (the three wise monkeys named above) will have to
either change their stance or find new roles in due course.

-- 
| mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk                           |
| Cola faq:  http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/   |
| Cola trolls:  http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/                        |
| Open platforms prevent vendor lock-in.  Own your Own services!       |


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