Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Massachusetts Adopting 'Open Format' Software

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the file-formats-rule-the-world dept.

XopherMV writes "A Massachusetts state senator who had complained about the state government's effort to promote open-source software at the expense of proprietary software has hailed the state's effort to reach a compromise over future software purchases by the state. The latest iteration of the state's policy emphasizes 'Open Formats' such as TXT, RTF, HTM, PDF, and XML." And if file formats for state use must be in truly open and free formats, then it matters much less what OS or application is used to create or open them. (On the other hand, XML and other TLAs don't always mean free or open formats.)

3 of 273 comments (clear)

  1. Re:HTM? HTM? by Karma+Sucks · · Score: 4, Funny

    Similarly, RTF is RTFM.

    Geez.

    --
    (Please browse at -1 to read this comment.)
  2. Re:True, but... by hweimer · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is true, but XML documents themselves are also considerably more open than their binary counterparts.

    <Byte Offset="0x1234">83</Byte>
    <Byte Offset="0x1235">117</Byte>
    <Byte Offset="0x1236">114</Byte>
    <Byte Offset="0x1237">101</Byte>
    <Byte Offset="0x1238">63</Byte>

    --
    OS Reviews: Free and Open Source Software
  3. Re:PDF by martinX · · Score: 4, Funny

    Odd. I was expecting it to be a link to a PDF file...

    --
    When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."