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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."
The Dutch devision of OpenStreetMap also send in a letter to the commission about the need for Open/Free Data. Standards are important, but the reuse of existing government work is too.
Support Eachother, Copy Dutch Property!
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
... which actually makes it very much about Microsoft, since they have purposefully done so much to ensure precisely the opposite. Planned obsolescence and crufty undocumented file formats are perfectly in Microsoft's favor as a means of forcing MS Office users to pay the upgrade tax every few years, regardless of whether the new Office versions include any compelling new functionality, what with older versions suddenly no longer able to read the "same" .doc file format produced by the newer versions. With ODF, we know what we're getting -- and that's what scares the pants of Microsoft.
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
MSFT countered saying that it has nothing against its users ensuring perpetual availability of their data residing in their machines and it would gladly join the organization if Microsoft's right to perpetual profits could be guaranteed.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
How likely is it that these people have figured out that ODF pushes Microsoft's buttons and are using it to secure better deals?
The article title talks about getting rid of Microsoft but it's really about doing the right thing to serve the people. The article content has nothing to do with the title. There's no need for a title like this. I hate to see this nonsense. It diverts from what really matters.
Governments *MUST* do this. Public documents are public domain, not Microsoft's (or any other company's) hostage.
We need to continue to have articles posted (even though they get old sometimes) here that push these issues and lay them out for people because they are so important.
Fresh horses and more whiskey for my men.
It *IS* all about Microsoft.
I say this jokingly, but also quite seriously. Jokingly because technically, it isn't about Microsoft... it could easily have been about Word Perfect if they were still the dominator in document formats. Truly, it is about perpetual access to data through the used of non-proprietary and fully documented formats. "ODF" isn't here to stay... it might last another 10, maybe 20 years at most before something far superior comes along. But ODF is fully documented and could be translated into whatever the next great format standard will be.
But seriously, it *IS* about Microsoft because Microsoft has lost the trust of their users and customers. They have done this with amazingly consistent and persistent erosion. With every new release, with every security problem, with every denial, with every DRM addition, with every copyright protection service, with every Genuine Advantage(r), with every BSA audit, with every criminal conviction, with every attempt to evade or forestall punishment, with every shameless act for which they have become quite notorious in the IT community... the ignorant public has started to notice what upsets their nerds ever so much. And now they are starting to re-think the way they store their data because at any moment, they want to be able to change their operating platform. They trusted Microsoft for at least the past 10 years with their operating systems, applications and data. Microsoft had their, our and even my personal trust for quite some time. The trust is gone or disappearing and now people are taking action.
And is it really the best way for Microsoft to handle this problem? I mean to lobby and complain? Why not attempt to save their business by changing their course and direction!? What is so bad about change?! Is actual competition too much for Microsoft to handle? Can't they just make a "better product" instead of playing all of these government games?
Perhaps the Microsoft apologists would care to suggest a possible reason why they can just serve the interests of their customers rather than fighting to save their business model? The customer wants ODF. Why shouldn't Microsoft provide that to them?
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.
See, that's the beauty of " Free! " (TM) (c) [Pat. Pend.] [All rights withheld by Microsoft, 2007] -- you can " Freely! " make anything equal anything else! What convenience, what ease of use, what utility! A few examples: Winter is the new summer, Stay the course, Up is down, Copyright is good for the consumer! Rinsema is simply worried that not enough people know about this Fantastic! New! Opportunity!, and is trying to make sure everyone knows that " Free! " is actually equal to $130 or whatever MS Office sells for.
It's all perfectly logical, really.
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
So what's preventing you from freeing yourself from proprietary software? Certainly not the hardware.
Ethics II Axiom 2. "Man thinks." B. Spinoza
Intitiatives like this one are likely to succeed here because they will be widely seen to make good sense.
There is nothing to prevent Microsoft from being part of the solution. Or it can be part of the precipitate.
Parity: What to do when the weekend comes.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
* Step 1: Let a = b.
* Step 2: Then a^2 = ab ,
* Step 3: a^2 + a^2 = a^2 + ab ,
* Step 4: 2a^2 = a^2 + ab ,
* Step 5: 2a^2 - 2ab = a^2 + ab - 2ab ,
* Step 6: and 2a^2 - 2ab = a^2 - ab .
* Step 7: This can be written as 2(a^2 - ab) = 1(a^2 - ab) ,
* Step 8: and canceling the (a^2 - ab) from both sides gives 1=2.
* Step 9: We then subtract 1 from each side which gives us 0=1
* Step 8: then multiplying by x where x is the price of the Microsoft suite you are investing in... you will note that x=0 and thus Microsoft is completely free!
Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
FYI, Microsoft is whining in the Dutch-language press (Google translation) about how unfair to them this all is and how disadvantaged they would be if the government used open standards.
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... :-)
Fear the penguin.
Can't do that in ODF.
That's why MS is shitting their pants.
Look at the crap they pulled trying to get their "standard" approved by ISO.
Here's one and another one here
Cowon and Iriver have supported Ogg Vorbis for a while now. There are other models from Cowon and Iriver (different capacity, larger/smaller screen, different form factors, Drive/flash based) if these are not to your liking. I have the Iriver X20 and get better sound quality than out of latest generation ipod (I will admit that the trade off is battery life, I only get 10 hours). For Linux compatible MP3 player's the thing to look for is MSC (Mass Storage Class) functionality which tells the device to act like a flash disk that you can copy music to and the device builds its own library when the device is disconnected rather than have itunes do it when it is connected.
Just remember that these are not "ipod clones" but rather drastically different mp3 players. For the most part you will find great improvements (not locked to itunes, better controls and UI) over ipods. Compared to Irivers, ipods are expensive and annoying to use.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
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.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
If you cannot attack his viewpoints you can always attack himself... Nice try.
First, this isn't about bashing Microsoft. Second, don't suggest Microsoft isn't opposing this to keep their profit as high as possible.
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.
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
At the risk of sliding off into OT territory, some points made about the Dutch political system probably need clarification. The Dutch consider their liberal party VVD to represent a conservative or capitalist point of view and do not view them as left wing or bleeding heart; quite the opposite. Our 'liberals' would likely vote Republican in the States.
Mrs Kroes, the commissioner who made MS bleed, is all the more effective as an antitrust fighter because she knows from past experience how board rooms operate. Apparently, it is possible to be a capitalist and believe that corporations should behave properly.
I agree that our system, imperfect though it may be, seems to at least resemble something like a democracy.