Massachusetts: MS Open XML Now in Equal Standing with ODF
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| Late today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced that it has formally
| ratified the 4.0 version of its Enterprise Technical Reference Policy. As a
| result, Microsoft's Office Open XML format -- recently ratified by the ECMA
| standards body -- is now considered in equal stature with OASIS' OpenDocument
| Format, for use by state employees.
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http://www.betanews.com/article/Massachusetts_MS_Open_XML_Now_in_Equal_Standing_with_ODF/1186018583
Related:
Interview with Christian Fernandez, of Binary Freedom
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| 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.
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http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20070315084848194
Q&A: Former Mass. CIO feels 'bittersweet pride' after battles with Microsoft,
legislature
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| 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.
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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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