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The Massachusetts Office Party
Quattro Vezina writes "The Inquirer reports that the state of Massachusetts has performed a modern-day Boston Tea Party, by dumping Microsoft Office in the proverbial ocean. According to the article, 'every state document must be in PDF or using Open Office formats' starting in 2007." Forbes has the story as well. More from the article: "The switch to open formats such as these was needed to ensure that the state could guarantee that citizens could open and read electronic documents in the future, according to Massachusetts - something that was not possible using closed formats. The proposal, which is open for comment until the end of next week before it takes effect, would represent a big boost for open source software such as Open Office, which is created by volunteer programmers and made available free of charge."
...Hopefully they did it all while wearing festive penguin suits, or for the politically correct Bostonians, Spheniscidae American suits.
Yup...
PDF
;)
and
Open Office XML
Strangely, both say you need Adobe reader to read them
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I am sure they are sending one of there most attractive sales reps. to the policy makers as we speak.
A: Hi im trying to read these documents but they wont open on my computer?
B: Well sir you see we here at the Massachusetts IT office have been leading the way to ensure that your tax dollars go to open formats as opposed to restrictive and expensive formats such as those offered by Microsoft.
A: Right... well im using a Windows PC, can I open these?
B: Yes of course, being open and well supported formats you can read them on almost any platform, unlike closed formats that are owned and maintained by companies who will not release tools to view them on alternative systems such as Linux.
A: Ok.. so.. how do I do that?
B: Let me refer you to this website where you can download OpenOffice entirely free of charge sir.
A: Erm right, I really just wanted to open and print these, is this going to take long?
B: Not at all, as long as you have a broadband connection you can download OpenOffice in a few minutes.
A: Isn't there an easier way? Is there no way to open them in Office Vista 2006?
B: Im not sure you are quite following me - these documents are in an open format, they don't work with Microsoft products, you could always download our PDF versions.
A: PDF?
B: Or even our plain-text files, those are missing some tables and diagrams however.
A: Erm I need the tables and diagrams, Is there no way you could 'make' some Office format versions if you have lots of versions anyway?
B: Absolutely not sir, the state of Massachusetts has a strict policy regarding the use of closed-source software and formats.
A: Hm maybe i'll move to Texas..
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
Umm... didn't they invent the orgy? :o)
And where does Massachusetts rank? Way down the list. Tied with the liberal sewer pits of Georgia and South Carolina:
In your post you listed Illinois as 9.8, Georgia 9.8, Mass. 9.8 and SC at 9.7
So technically, by your own numbers Mass. is tied with Illinois and Georgia, yet you failed to insult Illinois. They are a state too, and deserve to be spit on by all other states too.
In the future, please always remember to insult Illinois.
i don't care
Halliburton? Walmart? Exxon? Microsoft?
You forgot Shin-Ra.
--- What