Massachusetts set to switch off Microsoft

[Krell]

By Richard Waters in San Francisco
Published: September 1 2005 00:01 | Last updated: September 1 2005 18:58

The state of Massachusetts has laid out a plan to switch all its workers away from Microsoft's Word, Excel and other desktop software applications, delivering what would be one of the most significant setbacks to the software company's battle against open source software in its home market.

The state said on Wednesday that all electronic documents “created and saved” by state employees would have to be based on open formats, with the switch to start at the beginning of 2007.

Documents created using Microsoft's Office software are produced in formats that are controlled by the Microsoft, making them inelligible. In a paper laying out its future technology strategy on Wednesday, the state also specified only two document types that could be used in the future - OpenDocument, which is used in open source applications like Open Office, and PDF, a widely used standard for electronic documents.

The switch to open formats like these was needed to ensure that the state could guarantee that citizens could open and read electronic documents in the future, according to the state - something that was not possible using closed formats.

A senior Microsoft executive said that, if adopted, the proposal could force state agencies in Massachusetts to make an expensive and time-consuming switch to new PC software.

”I think it would be pretty risky for the state of Massachusetts to go in a direction like this without a clear look at the costs first,” said Alan Yates, general manager of the Office division at Microsoft.

He also suggested that the proposal, which was produced by the state’s chief information officer, was the product of “a very political situation,” though he declined to elaborate. Massachusetts was the only state to hold out against a settlement of the US anti-trust case against Microsoft.

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 like Open Office, which is created by volunteer programmers and made available free of charge.

Like Linux, an open source operating system that competes with Microsoft's Windows, OpenOffice is widely used in some emerging countries, though it has very limited use in the US, said Sam Hiser, an open source consultant and author.

The decision by one of the most populous states in the country could influence others which have yet to weigh the issue, he added.

The Office suite of software, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, produces roughly 40 per cent of Microsoft's revenues and earnings.


http://news.ft.com/cms/s/80033a76-1a71-11da-b7f5-00000e2511c8.html (http://news.ft.com/cms/s/80033a76-1a71-11da-b7f5-00000e2511c8.html)

[shawners]

ITs really a shame.. All our tax dollars go towards to so many sources, and the fact we could save so much money by going open source, as well as more people that switch, more third party support. MICROSOFT has failed in so many ways.

[Sephiroth]

I think its a mistake. Open office is slow, maybe because some parts are written in Java. It also doesnt have all the features of MS Office, and is going to take alot to transition people over.

Working with PDF files is a huge pain in the ass in my experiance. They should have waited and gone with XML if they really wanted to make sure anyone can view the files..

The costs to transisition people, the lost productivity because people are using programs and formats they are unfamilliar with, and the increases in IT costs to maintain and deal with all the problems is going to eat up a good chuck of the cash savings.

It appears to be more of a political decision than to do any kind of service to the citizens of that state.

[thewhitrbbit]

I hope they donate to Open Office

[Malakai1911]

Open office is slow, because its written in Java.

It's not written in java.

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~raza/idiot.jpg

[shawners]

ALl the licenseing you have to buy for every computer and packages to install it on those machines. . This should of happend alot earlier and it will force more people to work with it and build onto it.

[Sephiroth]

It's not written in java.


The core is not written in java, but some parts of it are written in java, so to say there is no java, is wrong. Which makes perfect since that there is come java in it beacuse it was developed by Sun Microsystems which created java.

For proof that there is java in it, you only need to look under fix a bug in their contributing FAQ.

"Fix a bug
In most cases this will require knowing C++ and sometimes Java." - http://contributing.openoffice.org/programming.html

[Malakai1911]

The core is not written in java, but some parts of it are written in java, so to say there is no java, is wrong. Which makes perfect since that there is come java in it beacuse it was developed by Sun Microsystems which created java.

For proof that there is java in it, you only need to look under fix a bug in their contributing FAQ.

"Fix a bug
In most cases this will require knowing C++ and sometimes Java." - http://contributing.openoffice.org/programming.html

Yes, Java is used sparingly, in fact, I can list the uses of java. (But take note, all of the appilications with the exception of "base" are written in C++.)
As of 1.1: Accessibility tools, The Report Autopilot, JDBC driver support for Java-based databases, XSLT filters, BeanShell, the Netbeans scripting language, and the Java UNO bridge, Export filters to the Aportis.doc (.pdb) format for the Palm or Pocket Word (.psw) format for the Pocket PC

In addition for 2.0: Base, the new Access-like database application, media player, Mail merges to e-mail, which also require Java Mail, All document wizards in Writer.

I'd hardly say you could call any of openoffice slow because of Java.


They should have waited and gone with XML if they really wanted to make sure anyone can view the files..

OpenOffice's format is OASIS, a document standard written entirely in XML. The (free) PDF export is merely a convenience added option.

http://img280.imageshack.us/img280/1213/ownedcat7je.th.jpg (http://img280.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ownedcat7je.jpg)

[notbob]

I think its a mistake. Open office is slow, because its written in Java. It also doesnt have all the features of MS Office, and is going to take alot to transition people over.

Working with PDF files is a huge pain in the ass in my experiance. They should have waited and gone with XML if they really wanted to make sure anyone can view the files..

The costs to transisition people, the lost productivity because people are using programs and formats they are unfamilliar with, and the increases in IT costs to maintain and deal with all the problems is going to eat up a good chuck of the cash savings.

It appears to be more of a political decision than to do any kind of service to the citizens of that state.

it's all nonsense

each seat that doesn't use office is 300-700+ (depending on your license agreement) dollars saved

if you spend a few sessions retraining, the money is more than made up for. plus, all your doc files will still work. yes open office has quirks, but it's free. personally, i don't think the added "features" in office are useful at all

oo writes doc files, reads doc files, writes pdf files, ppt, and a lot more. it is a free version of office 97, pretty much. nothing of substantial worth has beed added to office since then, unless you wanted that stupid paper clip guy.


you are right about pdf. they suck. bloated useless garbage

i've used oo for schoolwork for years. i never had a complaint or a problem printing oo doc files in word

[zpman]

it's all nonsense

each seat that doesn't use office is 300-700+ (depending on your license agreement) dollars saved

if you spend a few sessions retraining, the money is more than made up for. plus, all your doc files will still work. yes open office has quirks, but it's free. personally, i don't think the added "features" in office are useful at all

oo writes doc files, reads doc files, writes pdf files, ppt, and a lot more. it is a free version of office 97, pretty much. nothing of substantial worth has beed added to office since then, unless you wanted that stupid paper clip guy.


you are right about pdf. they suck. bloated useless garbage

i've used oo for schoolwork for years. i never had a complaint or a problem printing oo doc files in word

Dude, totally agree about something. I knew it was possible. I'm offering a truce to you that we stop bickering at each other and put political differences aside. I bet this isn't the only thing we can agree about man. PDFs can suck also because they can be extremely large in size. When distributing information outside of an intranet, this can be a pain. I know from experience using Blackboard while in school.

Good post.

[Krell]

I bet this isn't the only thing we can agree about man. PDFs can suck also because they can be extremely large in size.


And in an ironic twist, an ADOBE product bridges the differences between pirates.




.

[zpman]

And in an ironic twist, an ADOBE product bridges the differences between pirates.




.

Adobe reader is one of the few apps that makes my system fall short of being completely GNU. Oh well.

[Krell]

I posted a page of adobe alternatives once, if you could find it.




.

[zpman]

I posted a page of adobe alternatives once, if you could find it.




.

Thanks, I've got kpdf too. They both serve a purpose for me. Same as xmms/xine and realplayer.

There's a few non-GNU apps on here, technically, but I don't care. Besides most codecs outside of ogg aren't OSS. I was only messing around. I don't have to be 100% GNU. At least my kernal, most apps, and formats are.


talk to yall later.

[Sephiroth]

I'd hardly say you could call any of openoffice slow because of Java.

OpenOffice's format is OASIS, a document standard written entirely in XML. The (free) PDF export is merely a convenience added option.

http://img280.imageshack.us/img280/1213/ownedcat7je.th.jpg (http://img280.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ownedcat7je.jpg)

I just said it was slow, i never said exactly why because i dunno and dont care.

The reference about the xml formats youve kinda taken out of context, I didnt mean it as when there will be xml formats, more like when it becomes widespread enough which they currently arent. If they were then they wouldnt really need to put out a PDF verison which is more than a mere "convience option" at this point in time.

Notbob the comment about the costs, is whenever someone moves to open source especially a business people assume that they dont have to pay anything at all then, which is incorrect and i was merely listing some of the costs that will still have to be occurred, I didnt say moving would be more expensive, i said moving is going to eat up a good chunk of the money they would save and in the beginning that will certainly be true..

[Metalseeker 79]

If nothing else, competition makes Microsoft products better. They actually added features people want to IE7 because of Firefox, and they sure as hell won't stand around while one of their biggest cash cows takes a beating.

[Digital Bliss]

how about pen and paper or a typewriter?

[zpman]

how about pen and paper or a typewriter?

I like:


post-its and crayons


chalk and sidewalks


spraypaint and buildings, busses, park beches, etc.