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Of Open Standards, Interoperability and Open Source
,----[ Quote ]
| One of the key moments in the rise of open source was when Massachusetts
| announced that it was adopting an open standards policy for documents.
|
| Since this was a gauntlet flung down for the dominant supplier in this space,
| Microsoft, it was inevitable that a battle of epic proportions would result.
| In fact, it turned out to be a very dirty fight, degenerating into ad hominem
| attacks on the person behind this move to open standards.
|
| [...]
|
| This is certainly a fair point: when Massachusetts opted for open standards,
| ODF was the only option, but was still somewhat rough. In particular,
| OpenOffice.org was the only full implementation of ODF.
|
| [...]
|
| To call this “lock-in” is even more misleading: since there is no lock-in
| with one open source implementation, there is even less when there are
| multiple open source solutions, albeit imperfect. Unless, of course, you want
| to call it a lock-in to freedom.
|
| In fact, this obsession with perfect interoperability misses another crucial
| point, which is that there will *never* be anything like a
| perfectly-compatible solution with Microsoft's OOXML, given the 6000 pages of
| documentation, and the presence of opaque binary blobs. Compared to that
| situation, ODF is *already* far better, in that there are multiple solutions
| with good, if not 100%, interoperability.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2243&blogid=14
Related:
Saving money — and Mass. — with open source software
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| Arguably, white papers and reports take a long time to influence the
| direction of business. Nonetheless we in Massachusetts are well down the open
| source path. It was in Massachusetts that the Open Software Foundation was
| launched in 1988 and flourished. Its current iteration, The Open Group, is
| still working hard to influence the use of open software in commercial
| software development. Larger employers with a Massachusetts presence, such as
| Red Hat and Novell, advocate for the use of open source. And smaller
| companies, including Project.net and Best Practical, provide open source
| software that powers businesses, which in turn build products that eventually
| feed the consumer stream.
`----
http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2009/03/23/editorial2-Saving-money--and-Mass--with-open-source-software.html
Massachusetts Should Use Free Software Exclusively
,----[ Quote ]
| Governments in Massachusetts are increasingly dependent on software to
| operate. Citizens access important services via the Internet, and critical
| public documents are now digitally archived. Buying new software isn't like
| buying new desks and chairs for the office anymore. The makers of software
| now exert substantial control over how government operates.
`----
http://devalpatrick.com/issue.php?issue_id=7626258
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
New MA Governor Proposes New - and Smaller - IT Bond Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| Unfortunately for the Information Technology Division (ITD) in
| particular, and state government in general, the new bill would
| provide only a fraction of the funding that would have been provided
| under last year's legislation. As proposed by Patrick, the bond would
| offer only $95 million, rather than the $250 million originally
| proposed. According to MHT, $75 million would be dedicated to
| planning and procurement, a further $15 million would fund a
| statewide system to mange performance and measure efficiency of
| agency databases, and $4.9 million would be given to the state
| attorney general's offices for IT projects.
|
| As a result, it the new bill will fall far short of accomplishing
| what had long been hoped by the ITD. This follows on the heels of
| damage already done, as stated by Gutierrez in his letter of
| resignation
|
| [...]
|
| What does this portend for ODF in Massachusetts, and what does
| it tell us about Deval Patrick's plans for the future?
|
| First, here's what I don't know: as you may recall, both
| Gutierrez and Microsoft lobbyist Brian Burke were appointed
| to a transition working group formed to advise governor-elect
| Patrick on IT matters.
`----
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20070315084848194
Q&A: Former Mass. CIO feels 'bittersweet pride' after battles with Microsoft,
legislature
,----[ 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.
|
| [...]
|
| Do you see any reason for there to be two standards? If you were
| starting blank-slate, there certainly would not be value to creating
| two separate standards. Over time, it has sometimes been useful to
| have the competition of two standards to keep both sides honest.
| But I don't see particular value in the long-term co-existence of
| two separate standards.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012760&source=rss_news50
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| 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.
|
| Quinn: I believe that the ODF decision will stand. I believe MS
| will continue to do anything and everything it can to stop it. And I
| know my seat wasn't even empty and they (MS) took another shot at
| the title, to no avail. This horse is out of the barn and I see no
| way for it to go back in. Remember, all we are asking for was and is
| for Microsoft to commit to open and the standards process; so
| everyone looks really bad if the plug gets pulled at this juncture.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060119232859729
MA Governor-Elect Names MS Anti-ODF Lobbyist to Technology Advisory Group
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20061128161343183
The Sorry State of Massachusetts
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=2006111603531029
Microsoft offers schools in Mass. free software (to stop ODF adoption)
http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-6090196.html?part=rss&tag=6090196&subj=news
Microsoft plays Massachusetts Senate card
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32515
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