Comments on: Massachusetts to adopt 'open' desktop
State intends to phase out office applications from Microsoft and others in favor of software based on "open" standards.
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Now if only we can get banks and other agencies to follow suit. Working in the real estate business one of the most annoying things is downloading thirty different programs to print edocs. PDF's and a OpenDocument standard would be great if you could get them to use them, but they probably won't since only a couple of the many I have to deal with will give you an option for PDF.
Now if only we can get banks and other agencies to follow suit. Working in the real estate business one of the most annoying things is downloading thirty different programs to print edocs. PDF's and a OpenDocument standard would be great if you could get them to use them, but they probably won't since only a couple of the many I have to deal with will give you an option for PDF.
Microsoft can easily add them as an load/save type in Microsoft Office in order to comply with Open Standards, it just doesn't want to. MS-Office can load Wordperfect files - this is just another type to add.
The only people making this a strike against Microsoft are Microsoft themselves.
Jeremy Allison,
Samba Team.
I expect someone will find a way to release an import/export add-on for existing MS products before too long. It's hardly impossible to do. :)
Microsoft can easily add them as an load/save type in Microsoft Office in order to comply with Open Standards, it just doesn't want to. MS-Office can load Wordperfect files - this is just another type to add.
The only people making this a strike against Microsoft are Microsoft themselves.
Jeremy Allison,
Samba Team.
I expect someone will find a way to release an import/export add-on for existing MS products before too long. It's hardly impossible to do. :)
residents, I applaud MA for making a switch to open standards
and away from the excessive user taxes Microsoft tries to
strangle us with. That they cannot offer a "real value" when
compared to this Open doc format is more proof that they just
dont care about interoperability, playing fair, or getting along
with others. Thankfully this State, MA, was smart enough to
realize that Bill Gates Windows tax was eating into their coffers.
They were also one of the last States to accept the lame
settlement the weak US Judge Coleen Kotelly brought on MSFT
back during their monopoly sentencing.
residents, I applaud MA for making a switch to open standards
and away from the excessive user taxes Microsoft tries to
strangle us with. That they cannot offer a "real value" when
compared to this Open doc format is more proof that they just
dont care about interoperability, playing fair, or getting along
with others. Thankfully this State, MA, was smart enough to
realize that Bill Gates Windows tax was eating into their coffers.
They were also one of the last States to accept the lame
settlement the weak US Judge Coleen Kotelly brought on MSFT
back during their monopoly sentencing.
(and yes, I'm stuck w/ open office now, so I know all about it. Its no MS Office)
OpenOffice is an excellent package although a little slow sometimes. I can't see how anyone would say that they are "stuck" with it. It is easily as user friendly as MS Office.
Besides, if the state is giving until 2007 to switch things over, I can't see any major problems except for perhaps a few users that have a hard time adjusting to any change. This isn't the fault of the software, though; I can honestly say that I have seen people have a hard time going to easier to use systems. The just don't want to change their ways, even if it is for the better.
Everybody keeps saying Microsoft won't support it, but according to the article Microsoft will have a import/export feature for the OpenDocument Standard. That may not be as conveniant as native format, but it's still supporting it.
I think people forget that not everybody uses or wants to use Microsoft Office. I use WordPerfect and I am hoping they will support this standard as well. Open formats and standards are good things. It allows the sharing of data without the need for multiple peices of software and in a perfect world without the need for special import/export features.
The truly nice feature here is, and I am assuming here that all office applications support open standards, that if a company created all of their documents using an open standard format then switching between office applications would be less expensive and less time consuming converting documents.
And last, if all the government agencies switched to OpenOffice it would probably save the people tax dollars because OpenOffice is free. Although there will be a transition period for learning, training, and support that wont be free, once done it would cost less because those people would be trained and able to support it just like any other product.
At the very least the only major problem I see is those who are "stuck" with Microsoft Office and no way to export into this Open Standard.
This is important since you want the ability to open those documents many years later or with a competitive product. You could switch from MS Office, to Open Office then back to MS Office 2020 when it comes out, and your documents will still be viable.
(and yes, I'm stuck w/ open office now, so I know all about it. Its no MS Office)
OpenOffice is an excellent package although a little slow sometimes. I can't see how anyone would say that they are "stuck" with it. It is easily as user friendly as MS Office.
Besides, if the state is giving until 2007 to switch things over, I can't see any major problems except for perhaps a few users that have a hard time adjusting to any change. This isn't the fault of the software, though; I can honestly say that I have seen people have a hard time going to easier to use systems. The just don't want to change their ways, even if it is for the better.
Everybody keeps saying Microsoft won't support it, but according to the article Microsoft will have a import/export feature for the OpenDocument Standard. That may not be as conveniant as native format, but it's still supporting it.
I think people forget that not everybody uses or wants to use Microsoft Office. I use WordPerfect and I am hoping they will support this standard as well. Open formats and standards are good things. It allows the sharing of data without the need for multiple peices of software and in a perfect world without the need for special import/export features.
The truly nice feature here is, and I am assuming here that all office applications support open standards, that if a company created all of their documents using an open standard format then switching between office applications would be less expensive and less time consuming converting documents.
And last, if all the government agencies switched to OpenOffice it would probably save the people tax dollars because OpenOffice is free. Although there will be a transition period for learning, training, and support that wont be free, once done it would cost less because those people would be trained and able to support it just like any other product.
At the very least the only major problem I see is those who are "stuck" with Microsoft Office and no way to export into this Open Standard.
This is important since you want the ability to open those documents many years later or with a competitive product. You could switch from MS Office, to Open Office then back to MS Office 2020 when it comes out, and your documents will still be viable.
On the other hand, I'm sure a converter could be built very cheaply for MS Office products and allow them to be configured in such a way to default saving to that format.
On the other hand, I'm sure a converter could be built very cheaply for MS Office products and allow them to be configured in such a way to default saving to that format.
thirty years, and it can be dealt with by any program capable of
parsing XML. Open Office is a free suite (and works pretty well
on Windows and Mac OS X, and I gather also on Unix). There's
absolutely nothing confusing about it, and it will remain stable
for decades.
Now compare that with Microsoft, who update their standards
each version, making some older formats incompatible, who do
not make the specifications available to other vendors (who
therefore have to reverse engineer it) and whose formats are
getting dangerously bloated and insecure. With a text editor one
can find out in most cases who and when edited a file. Try that
for a public or legal document...
Microsoft can ***** all they like, but they have brought this on
themselves. When they announced XML support a while back,
everyone thought this was wonderful. Then we saw the DTD and
how they had made it nonstandard...
thirty years, and it can be dealt with by any program capable of
parsing XML. Open Office is a free suite (and works pretty well
on Windows and Mac OS X, and I gather also on Unix). There's
absolutely nothing confusing about it, and it will remain stable
for decades.
Now compare that with Microsoft, who update their standards
each version, making some older formats incompatible, who do
not make the specifications available to other vendors (who
therefore have to reverse engineer it) and whose formats are
getting dangerously bloated and insecure. With a text editor one
can find out in most cases who and when edited a file. Try that
for a public or legal document...
Microsoft can ***** all they like, but they have brought this on
themselves. When they announced XML support a while back,
everyone thought this was wonderful. Then we saw the DTD and
how they had made it nonstandard...
- I don't understand
- by solvey January 9, 2006 7:30 AM PST
- I don't understand why any local or state government, or the federal govt for that matter, does not make the switch. Lets face it, the vast majority of MS Office users use the most basic capabilities of the software, ie. type a letter, make a spreadsheet or a power point presentation. OpenOffice.org does this for FREE!!!!, did I mention FREE!!!! Why should a govt pay hundreds of dollars per user for software when you can get software that does the same thing for FREE!!!! How is this a waste of tax money?
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