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California Demanding Open Document Standard - Microsoft Resists

by , 3:20 PM EST, March 5th, 2007

California has introduced a bill that would make the Open Document Format (ODF) a mandatory requirement for its state agencies when procuring software. This is putting heat on Microsoft which is promoting its own OOXML standard, according to a report in ITWire Monday.

"The new bill, introduced by Californian Democrat Mark Leno, does not name ODF specifically but has stipulated that by 2008 agencies must be equipped to store and exchange documents in an open, XML-based format. Although the name of Microsoft's Office Open XML [OOXML] suggests that it would match the requirement, it is in fact a proprietary format that would fail the open standards test," ITWire reported.

The Open Document Format is recognized as an ISO standard and can be implemented by any vendor. However, Microsoft has been promoting its own variation, called OOXML, and that has generated some debate in the industry.

Meanwhile, TMO notes, the ODF alliance has argued that as important government documents move from paper to electronic format, they must be in a form that is universally readable and will migrate well into the future.

Previously, Minnesota and Texas have also proposed an open XML standard for government documents. The Minnesota bill proposed a file format that is "interoperable among diverse internal and external platforms and applications; fully published and available royalty-free; implemented by multiple vendors; and controlled by an open industry organization with a well-defined inclusive process for evolution of the standard."

As every computer user knows, Mac or PC, migrating their old documents, created by previous versions of their software, into the the future and keeping them readable is a continual problem. Governments are also starting to put their foot down and insure that all public documents remain readable for all time by all users by complying with the kinds of standard that the Minnesota legislature has defined above.

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Observer Comments

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Close Name:nealg Posts: 120 Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:29 pm Subject: Pages

Is Apple's Pages compatible?

Neal


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Close Name:DeepDish Posts: 57 Joined: 25 Jun 2001
Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:34 pm Subject: Good

I like this. All "office" programs should be independant of the file format used when exchanging files with other "office" programs. Let the best "office" package win because of easy of use and features and not because of being locking into a specail format.


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Close Name:VSeward -   TMO Staff Posts: 971 Joined: 28 Jun 2001
Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:58 pm Subject: Is Pages Compatible?

Quote
nealg wrote:
Is Apple's Pages compatible?

Neal


The site literature only lists PDF, Word (doc), HTML, RTF, and Text formats, so it looks like it isn't. However, we can assume that it wouldn't take much to make Pages compatible.

Vern Seward


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Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2043 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:56 pm Subject: Another problem

Quote
John wrote:
As every computer user knows, Mac or PC, migrating their old documents, created by previous versions of their software, into the the future and keeping them readable is a continual problem. Governments are also starting to put their foot down and insure that all public documents remain readable for all time by all users by complying with the kinds of standard that the Minnesota legislature has defined above.


For a government, another problem would be allowing access by people who have older systems. As a simple example, I'm the treasurer for our county 4-H leaders association. I keep a detailed database with QuickBooks 6/Mac. The accountant who keeps our "official" books (they handle the bank accounts, as well) uses a later version of QuickBooks for Windows. I can't open their file without buying not only the latest version of QuickBooks but Tiger, as well. A government policy that forces users to purchase expensive new software would not be a good idea.

It also depends upon what the user is supposed to DO with the government document. If they are just going to read it and, perhaps, search in it, PDFs will do just fine. If they need to fill out forms, PDFs can be built for that. If they need to edit documents or use numerical data, then some ODF document would be called for.

Edited to correct the author citation. Sorry, Vern!



Last edited by gslusher on Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Close Name:burrito Posts: 176 Joined: 07 Aug 2005
Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:58 pm Subject:

adobe should just break down and develop an ODF-based office suite


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View Name:Guest
Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:33 pm Subject: Good news!
Close Name:VSeward -   TMO Staff Posts: 971 Joined: 28 Jun 2001
Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:01 pm Subject: Re: Another problem

Quote
Vern wrote:
As every computer user knows, Mac or PC, migrating their old documents, created by previous versions of their software, into the the future and keeping them readable is a continual problem. Governments are also starting to put their foot down and insure that all public documents remain readable for all time by all users by complying with the kinds of standard that the Minnesota legislature has defined above.



I never said (wrote) that.

Vern Seward


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Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2043 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:13 pm Subject:

Quote
VSeward wrote:
Quote
Vern wrote:
As every computer user knows, Mac or PC, migrating their old documents, created by previous versions of their software, into the the future and keeping them readable is a continual problem. Governments are also starting to put their foot down and insure that all public documents remain readable for all time by all users by complying with the kinds of standard that the Minnesota legislature has defined above.



I never said (wrote) that.

Vern Seward


Right you are. Sorry, Vern. I'll go back and edit the message to show that John wrote it. I guess that I had just finished reading your comment just above and got confused--or, perhaps, it's rampant Oldtimer's disease.


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Close Name:acefury Posts: 6 Joined: 11 May 2005
Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:47 pm Subject:

"The site literature only lists PDF, Word (doc), HTML, RTF, and Text formats, so it looks like it isn't. However, we can assume that it wouldn't take much to make Pages compatible."


Pages now can export as PDF, Word, HTML, RTF and Plain Text.


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Close Name:Dirt Road Posts: 1228 Joined: 24 Oct 2002
Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:05 pm Subject: Shocked

Microsoft doesn't want to use ODF? I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!


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