Federal Grant Applications to Require Windows

An anonymous reader writes "Grants.gov requires MS Windows to apply for a Federal grant. This will eventually replace all Federal grant application processes. If the federal government does not change this policy and allow multiple operating systems to work with the application process, it will effectively be a Microsoft tax on Federal grant money. You must purchase (or acquire by other means) Microsoft Windows to apply for a Federal grant. There are currently web based Federal grant application processes that work on multiple platforms. However, they will be moving to the new system that requires Windows. I recommend writing your federal representative and senators. Resources provided by public funding should be OS independent."

Comments

Mac support

[avalys]

If you click the "PureEdge for Mac" link, you'll see that their solution to supporting Macs is having you buy Virtual PC.

contact info link

[bersl2]

http://grants.gov/ContactUs

Let 'em have it.

Re:contact info link

[WhiteBandit]

Sent the following email to support@grants.gov, as well as my local representative. We'll see what happens:

Hello,

I'm writing to protest that the website Grants.Gov requires Microsoft Windows to apply for a federal grant, effectively placing a sort of "Microsoft Tax" on all grant applications.

Interestingly enough, there is link on the website entitled, "PureEdge Support for Macintosh" which opens up the following PDF: http://grants.gov/GrantsGov_UST_Grantee/!SSL!/WebH elp/MacSupportforPureEdge.pdf

This PDF states that you can use VirtualPC on your Macintosh to apply for a grant.

VirtualPC is also a Microsoft Program, which requires you to buy VirtualPC ($129 base price) in addition to Microsoft Windows! It's downright ridiculous, especially since Apple users are basically being charged twice to apply for a grant.

VirtualPC Link: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/vi rtualpc.aspx

I hope something can be done about this situation. Thank you.

Write and complain

[Holi]

Here is the the contact info

Grants.gov Program Management Office Mailing Address:

200 Independence Avenue, SW
HHH Building, Room 739F
Washington, DC 20201

Grants.gov Contact Center Phone Number: 1-800-518-4726

Lets see

[dtfinch]

run installer in wine
wait a long long while
when the error dialog pops up, do not close it yet
find the windows temp directory (example: /home/david/.wine/drive_c/windows/temp), and make a copy of the pftbdb~tmp
you may close the installer
open a terminal and cd to the copy of the temp install director you just created
install "unshield" if you do not already have it
$ mkdir data1
$ unshield -d data1 x data1.cab
$ cd data1/Java_Classes
$ ls
WTF!?? It's Java, but with tons of Windows dependencies.

Re:Lets see

[dtfinch]

Beyond that, I couldn't get it to run.

Re:Lets see

[dtfinch]

The application forms are in XFDL, if that helps anyone.

A little Googling

[mchawi]

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:OTOiWnGpzuMJ: www.grants.gov/assets/MinutesJune.doc+pureedge+rea der+linux&hl=en&client=firefox-a/

The article states:

Q: Is PureEdge going to be available on the Macintosh and Linux platforms soon?

A: We hope that over the next nine months to a year, we will be able to serve the Macintosh and Linux users. It is currently supporting both Netscape and Explorer.

Some of the PureEdge products say they support Linux / Unix / Windows - so the reader might already support it. It's hard to tell though, since their website kind of sucks.

Reply from grants.gov

[LordNimon]

I also sent them a nasty email, and this is the reply I got:

Thank you for your recent inquiry to Grants.gov concerning the Pure Edge viewer.

Grants.gov has been working with Pure Edge to offer a viewer that is compatible with as many operating systems as possible. We feel that we are not too far from achieving that goal, and when we do, be sure that information will be posted on our website. In the meantime, we apologize if the viewer options we offer for your operating system are not acceptable. Our goal is to ensure the widest possible acceptance of Grants.gov and certainly not to exclude anyone from the electronic grants submission process. To that end, as a first step, we ensured that the Pure Edge viewer will work with a Windows emulator program, as described on our website.

Grants.gov employs the PureEdge Viewer 6.0 for viewing and completing application forms. The PureEdge viewer's 508 compliance is described at http://www.pureedge.com/products/products/PureEdge AccessibilityGuide.pdf. Grants.gov sponsored testing of the PureEdge viewer demonstrated the viewer's compatibility with the widely used Jaws screen reader. An enhanced version of the PureEdge Viewer that will include compatibility with a broader range of screen reader products through support for industry standard interfaces for accessibility is in the process of being tested and upon successful completion of testing will be posted to the site.

Feel free to contact us should you have further inquiries.