Slashdot Mirror
Texas Bill For Open Documents
Ditesh Kumar tips us to a blog entry by Sam Hiser noting a bill filed in Texas that would require state agencies to conduct their work in an open document format. After Microsoft's grueling battle against ODF in Massachusetts, bluest of blue states, it must be galling to face te same fight in the reddest of the red. Hiser notes that the bill includes a rigorous and sound definition of an open document format, which ODF would meet but Microsoft's current OOXML submission would not.
I never thought I'd say something like this, but GO TEXAS!
It may be Texas, but the bill was filed by Rubén Hinojosa, a Democrat representative from the U.S. House. They'll shoot it down. (unless Cheney misses and hits MS OOXML by accident.)
Utah: 71% Bush in 04
Alabama: 63% Bush
What's Slashdot going to do now that it has used the reddest of the red and the bluest of the blue for states? Northest of the north? Bestest of the best? Openest of the open?
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
Mod -1
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Ah'd like to make it clear as the wide blue sky that Ah am indeed for open documents. We've got to stop those Mahcruhsowft bush-whackers afore they've done rustled off all ahr fahn computers. Wah, Ah'd even make common cause with them damyankees from Barstn. Any foe of Redmond Bill is durn tootin' a friend of mine!
Thank y'all fer yer time.
Pleased ter meet'cha!
Texas Bill
I keep seeing this "____ government wants open document formats". What's their real motivation for this? No legislator really gives a flying fuck about Linux, open source, open office, or the EFF. I think all they really care about is "if we threaten to leave, microsoft will give us some sweet swag". The whole faux ODF argument they use is just a means to the squeeze. MS comes across with a hundred free licenses, probably some nice ferarri notebooks for the legislators themselves, and they rub their hands as they head to the bank.
The Texas higher education institutions already make heavy use of OSS. Our budgets don't allow us to afford anything else....except, of course, for UT Austin who can walk across the street to wine, dine, and whine the Texas Legislature.
Every mans' island needs an ocean; choose your ocean carefully.
Documents open you!
Yeehah!
Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
You could write to Rick Perry and ask him to executive order it into policy. (Except where religious or personal reasons prevent.)