"Open Source"-ization

[impar]

Greetings!

"The state of Massachusetts has recently been flirting with open standards, but the process has so far had more twists and turns than a soap opera."
in, http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060104-5895.html

[impar]

Greetings!

"The Belgium federal government has decided that from september 2008 on, all documents must be saved in the Open Document Format. Use of proprietary formats, meaning those from Microsoft, is no longer allowed then. The ICT-service of the federal government, Fedict, told ZDNet Belgium, through word of Director-General Peter Strickx, that this decision is taken because they didn't want to be dependant on any single software manufacturer. After ODF became ISO standard, this decision was obvious for them."
in, http://www.flexbeta.net/main/comments.p ... news=20523

[impar]

Greetings!

"AFTER LOTS of wrangling and the odd resignation, the State of Massachusetts will buy Microsoft instead of opting for Open Office."
in, http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33930

[impar]

Greetings!

"The new bill is being bought in by Californian Democrat Mark Leno. It stipulates that by 2008 agencies must be equipped to store and exchange documents in an open, XML-based format. Despite the name Microsoft's Office Open XML would fail the open standards test.
Still it is a long way from being a done deal, and Microsoft has not even started its lobbying exercises."
in, http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37991

[impar]

Greetings!

"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has issued a public-review policy draft (in RTF format) that appears bolster the use of Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) as an acceptable document format for use in government offices.

The document espouses the advantages of XML-based standards and states that all state agencies are expected to migrate from proprietary, binary office document formats to XML-based ones, initially through using ODF document translators with Microsoft Office 2003. Microsoft's OOXML, which has been approved by the standardizing body Ecma, has been added as "another standardized XML-based file format specification suitable for office applications." The document is subject to a short review period which will end on July 20. "
in, http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20 ... oming.html

Thread name should change, no?

[impar]

Greetings!

"Microsoft's plan to have its Office Open XML (OOXML) format fast-tracked for approval as an ISO standard hit a snag recently, when the V1, a technical committee that advises the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS), failed by two votes to gain the necessary two-thirds majority of its 26 voting members to give OOXML the "Approval, with comments" rating.
...
Rob Weir, an IBM employee who is a member of the V1 committee, explained the decision on his blog, and noted that 16 out of the 26 voting members joined the committee very late in the game, and almost all of these new partners voted to approve OOXML. Weir noted that some of these new members were companies that were Microsoft corporate partners.
...
Microsoft is clearly hoping that it can squeeze in a quick fast-tracking of OOXML, especially for gaining government contracts where ISO standards are required. However, it's not like the company is banking everything on Office XML becoming an ISO standard."
in, http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20 ... ation.html

[powerarmour]

I must admit after using OpenOffice for like, forever..., I wouldn't need to ever use another MS Office again tbh.

You could easily run a business just using alternative Office suites, but convincing your employees might be tricky sometimes if they are used to the 'MS way'

[impar]

Greetings!

You could easily run a business just using alternative Office suites, but convincing your employees might be tricky sometimes if they are used to the 'MS way'

Have that problem here.
Installed OO in a colleagues computer and she says isnt the same as the one she has at home (WO), its ugly, acts weird, cant open the files at home (she saved in the deafult open format...), causes alergy, etc.
Of course, she is not the one that has to deal with the boss for IT budget...

[impar]

Greetings!

"Game over for OpenDocument?

Is it game over for OpenDocument? Probably. We've been expecting Massachusetts ITD to publicly revise its open formats mandate to include Office Open XML (OOXML) ever since Louis Gutierrez resigned as CIO in early October 2006. That was as clear a signal that ODF had failed in Massachusetts as needed by anyone in the know.
...
Yet a further mystery is why Massachusetts chose to add OOXML to its repertoire when not even Microsoft Office can generate files in that format. OOXML is a one-way, import-only format for MS Office, a crippled subset of Microsoft's own XML formats (MOOXML)."
in, http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php? ... 90&eid=-10

[impar]

Greetings!

[url=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070829-linux-foundation-says-ooxml-not-ready-to-become-an-iso-standard.html]Linux Foundation: Just say "no" to OOXML

Via an official statement issued today, the Linux Foundation is encouraging ISO members to vote against fast-track approval for Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) document format. Citing the length and technical complexity of the OOXML documentation, the significant number of issues that have been raised by national standards bodies evaluating the format, and potential challenges associated with third-party implementation of OOXML support, the Linux Foundation says that ISO participants should vote no and provide comments that "reflect their best, neutral, technical judgment," in order to ensure the future availability of documents and preserve the integrity of the standards process.[/url]