Massachusetts Adopting 'Open Format' Software

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Saturday January 22, 2005 @11:20PM 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.)

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Open Formats by Anonymous Coward · 2005-01-22 23:28 · Score: 0, Redundant

"Open Formats' such as TXT, RTF, HTM, PDF, and XML."

Is PDF actually an open format? Does Adobe publish a spec for it? or is it considered open because someone reverse engineered it?