Andy Updgrove
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Authored by Andy Updgrove on Jan 30, 2014 20:10:21 GMT
It was ten years ago that the CIO of Massachusetts rattled the desktop world by announcing that the Executive Agencies of the Commonwealth would henceforth license only office suite software that complied with the OpenDocument Format (ODF) – which Microsoft Office did not. Yesterday, the UK Cabinet Office blew life back into the embers left behind by what went on to became one of the most epic standards wars in history. Frances Maude, a senior UK government minister stated that the UK government must free itself from control by the “tiny oligopoly” of software vendors that dominates the marketplace. The way to achieve that end, he explained, would be through mandatory compliance by vendors with specific standards: "Technical standards for document formats may not sound like the first shot in a revolution. But be in no doubt: the adoption of compulsory standards in government threatens to break open Whitehall's lock-in to proprietary formats. In turn we will open the door for a host of other software providers." More at: www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20140130112925328
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Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
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Authored by Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells on Feb 1, 2014 9:46:18 GMT
Interesting articles, but there are a couple of inconsistencies:
``Frances Maude, a senior UK government minister,... What he did do was...''
Last time I looked, FrancEs was a female name; FrancIs is the male version. The minister is called FrancIs Maude.
``the Cabinet Office has spent £200 million since 2010...City of Munich recently...saving over $16 million''
The UK currency is used for the comment about UK spend, but the Munich currency (the euro €) is not used about the Munich savings.
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Authored by wayneborean on Feb 1, 2014 20:11:09 GMT
Thanks for the update Andy. This is one of the reasons I predicted Microsoft Office loosing market share. Without DOCX they don't have lock in. Wayne madhatter.ca
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