September 15th, 2005
Yet another MS salvo in Massachusetts battle
The Boston Globe reported yesterday that Microsoft has filed a 15-page document with the Massachusetts Information Techology Dept. and Gov. Mitt Romney objecting to the state’s plan to require applications to natively support the OpenDoc format.The Globe reports:
Microsoft executives are now warning in their comments that the proposed move could cost the state money if its agencies are forced to cancel Office licenses, some of which extend beyond January 2007 and could create problems interacting with businesses.
”Were this proposal to be adopted, the significant costs incurred by the Commonwealth, its citizens, and the private sector would be matched only by the levels of confusion and incompatibility that would result from the fact that the OpenDocument format is such a nascent and immature format," Microsoft general manager Alan Yates wrote in the company’s comments. He suggested a move to OpenDocument would flout practices requiring the state to seek ”best value" in procurement.
Massachusetts’ secretary of administration and finance Eric Kriss said the state will write a response to Microsoft’s letter.
”It’s an important issue. Open formats are at the very heart of our democratic process. The question is whether a sovereign state has the obligation to ensure that its public documents remain forever free and unencumbered by patent, license, or other technical impediments. We say, yes, this is an imperative. Microsoft says they disagree and want the world to use their proprietary formats."
The Globe also notes that sparks may fly between the two organizations at November’s Open Source Business Conference, scheduled for Nov. 1-2 in Newton, Mass.
One of the problems that Katrina has put into bold relief is the impact of cascading communication snafus on the quick response to disasters.
Open Standards White Papers
- Interoperability and Open Standards for eGovernment Services - Computing Technology Industry Association
- An Open Ppportunity: More Governments Seek Open Source Solutions, HP Can Help - Hewlett-Packard
- Open Interoperability: From Conception to Realization - Intergraph
- A Guide to eProcurement for the Public Sector: Standards and Security - Crown
- Connecting the Dots: CAP and WSRP - Starbourne Communications Design
- Red Hat and the Federal Enterprise Architecture - Red Hat
- Business Centric Methodology (BCM): Creating Practical Tools for Business Integration - OASIS Open
- The Havoc of Non-Interoperability - Open Geospatial Consortium
- OpenEMed: Serving Public Health Preparedness Today and for the Future Through Open Architectural and Design Processes - Los Alamos National Laboratory
- HumanML & Government Related IT Directives (Part One) - FirstGov.gov
