Dutch ODF Plan Could Sideline Microsoft

Yeti7226 sends word of a discussion coming up Wednesday in the parliament of The Netherlands that could result in mandated use of Open Document Format at government agencies there. If the plan is enacted, public-sector organizations, as well as the government, would have to transition to using ODF by 2010. Microsoft Netherlands has lobbied hard against the provision. Backers say it doesn't exclude Microsoft, because ODF can be produced out of MS Office via the use of plugins. A funder of the OpenDoc Society invited Microsoft to join that organization, saying: "This plan is not about Microsoft, it's about ensuring the perpetual availability of data without any obstacles."

Comments

Bluff?

[calebt3]

How likely is it that these people have figured out that ODF pushes Microsoft's buttons and are using it to secure better deals?

Re:Bluff?

[Penguinisto]

Not so sure about that one... After all, MS Office does have ODF plugins, and the MSFT sales droid could easily counter with some variation of "well, we have freely available plugins for that in (insert new MS Office version here) . Now about all those old .doc and .xls files you have laying around... whatcha gonna open those with?"

Also, one of the benefits of all that FUD that Microsoft has churned out or paid for is that they can use it as reference material to the clueless PHB(s) that purchase (directly or by influence) the software.

The trick is to get the truth out in ways that can be measured on-the-spot, and help the PHB pose questions that the MSFT sales-droid can't simply FUD his or her way out of. For instance, set up a Linux server, or set up an OpenOffice installation... test the crap out of it in parallel with the equivalent MS product, total up and categorize all costs, then present those to the PHB(s) as a proof-positive defense.

Of course, that won't stop the sales droid from low-balling the price as a last resort, but at least this way you've given the PHB(s) something to think about...

/P

Re:Bluff?

[kryten_nl]

I love M$ bashing as much as the next guy. But Arjen... your company Gendo is likely to profit from this as well, isn't it?

On a completely unrelated note ... do you have any job openings?

Let's hope they stand up better than Massachusetts

[Iphtashu Fitz]

Mass. tried to do the same thing and they eventually caved in. As a Mass. resident (and something like 10th generation Dutchman) I can only hope that they don't succumb to the pressure like my local lawmakers did.

Re:Very much about Microsoft

[Sentry21]

Planned obsolescence and crufty undocumented file formats are perfectly in Microsoft's favor For an example of crufy file formats in action, read about Word 98's classic security hole - including random chunks of data/disk into its files. Present in Office 98 for Mac, as well as Office 97 for Windows, and older Mac versions (As far back as 6).

http://www.macintouch.com/o98security.html

Then again, I suppose this sort of thing isn't guaranteed against with ODF, since anyone can write a terrible parser for any file format. Microsoft is just really good at it, that's all.

Re:Of course...

[SiriusStarr]

What was preventing me was the fact that I've never heard of it before. Thanks for the information! I intend to go home and put it on my iPod and kiss iTunes goodbye. I'd tried GTKPod, but hadn't really loved it, and iPod linux doesn't support my generation. I love the feeling I get when I can delete Apple programs from my computer... :-)

Re:Don't you believe it!

[el cisne]

"And is it really the best way for Microsoft to handle this problem? "
It is the only way they know how.

"I mean to lobby and complain? Why not attempt to save their business by changing their course and direction!? "
They can no more change this course and direction than we can change our own DNA (excluding retroviruses, etc). Besides, they'd have to want to change. And they don't. They pride themselves in this method and culture and approach.

"What is so bad about change?!
It hurts. It is unfamiliar. The outcome is not certain. Like Dell now trying to do retail. Don't think that was the first thing on their list. They are having to play in a game in which they are newcomers.

"Is actual competition too much for Microsoft to handle? "
Yes. They don't know how to compete the normal way. With an actual salable product, on the merits.

"Can't they just make a "better product" instead of playing all of these government games?"
This IS their product. It is what they do, what they are best at. What they do better than anyone else. Software is just the arena. They are not so much a software company as they are a "protect windows and office at all freaking costs" company. That is the bottom line to everything they do.

Re:Behavioral Psych 101

[ozmanjusri]

My bet is that they want use of ODF to be as painful and damn-well-useless as possible

This is though, it's not.

ODF shouldn't be a cause for excitement. It's a file format. It stores everything any sane person might want to store in an editable document format. The only differentiator between ODF and any other common document formats is that ODF is easy to parse and free for anyone to implement.

There are already good editors that use ODF too - Open Office for the open source crowd, and Lotus Symphony for those who want to play in the proprietary pool. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but either will serve for 99% of document editing duties.

I'll Hold My Cheers Till It's Implemented

[RAMMS EIN]

I'll hold my cheers until the government actually starts _using_ open formats.

There is also an approved motion, filed in 2002, that "requests the government to ensure that, by 2006, all software used in the public sector complies with open standards" (full (dutch) text of the motion).

This is what we want. This is what we _should_ have. It's outrageous for a government to force us to deal with prorprietary formats.

Furthermore, the motion expresses concern about the cost of the government using proprietary software that uses proprietary formats, and requests that the government "stimulate the adoption and development of open-source software in the public sector".

Regardless, the (previous) government inked a $$$ deal with Microsoft, apparently without even considering alternatives. I do some work for government agencies, and Windows is everywhere. Having said that, Linux is, too. I don't know about document formats they use for interacting with citizens; they always give me paper forms. But in my communications with them, it's Outlook and MS Word and Excel.

It's now 2007, one year past the target of the motion, and there's a long way to go still.

Re:Let's hope they stand up better than Massachuse

[leomekenkamp]

Being Dutch I can tell you that it will be highly unlikely that something like what happened in Mass. takes place here in NL. The whole structure of our political system is based on cooperation, on finding the right compromise that works best for the largest group of people, without ignoring minorities.

We've got legalised euthanasia: if someone really wants to die because he faces very strong suffering with no way out, our society gives him the right to let him die in a humane way. Even the christian parties in our government do not try to roll this back.

If you want to smoke pot, hey, no problemo.

Gay marriage: why not? Abortion? yes: under the right circumstances.

Prostitution is also legal; allows for better regulation, less health issues and last but not least: taxation :-). You actually put money in the treasure chest here if you visit a prostitute.

The crux of this all: our political system is more focussed on getting our society to work better. There will be prostitution whatever you do, so its better to legalise and regulate. There were cases of euthanasia and abortion before our laws permitted it, so again better to regulate. Pot, idem. Over here we do not only implement the stuff lobbyists would like; we have no legalised system of bribes here, ehhm, in the US they are called 'campaign contributions' I believe. Also we do not have a winner-takes-all 2 political party system; anyone can start a political party and be elected in our parliament. There is even one seat for the 'Animal Rights Party' right now.

So in this case common sence prevails again: there is simply no way anyone can seriously state that it is better to have all of our documents unreadable in 10, 20, 50 whatever years time. There is also no way that someone can seriously state that you must use products from 1 (even foreign) company in order to communicate with each other. Fortunately our politicians see this also, so the chanches of this getting a Mass. handling are quite small, since there is little incentive to cater to the wishes of some convicted foreign monopolist.