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Critic bashes Massachusetts on Open XML proposal

Turbolinux, to develop new tools to translate documents between ODF and Office 2007 Open XML
By John Fontana , Network World , 07/12/2007
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With about a week remaining to collect comments on a plan to adopt Ecma’s Open XML standard, Massachusetts is mum on how the issue is fairing, but some who disagree with the action are already voicing their opinion publicly.

Andy Updegrove, a lawyer, a board member of the Linux Foundation and a Massachusetts resident is stirring controversy with comments he submitted to the Massachusetts Information Technology Department (ITD) that oppose the Open XML initiative.

“Microsoft is hardly to be blamed for lending no support to the success of the Open Document Format (ODF). But neither should it be rewarded for launching a competing, self-serving standard as a next-best defense against erosion of its dominant position,” he wrote in comments submitted to the ITD.

Ecma’s Open XML standard, known as Ecma-376, is based on Microsoft’s Open XML, which is the default format in Office 2007. Microsoft submitted the format to Ecma, which approved it in December.

A straightjacket on innovation

Updegrove said the level of detail in the 6,039 pages of Ecma-376 specification “will place a straightjacket on innovation, restricting any implementation to rigid conformance.”

“As one who has long studied and promoted the importance of open standards, I urge [Massachusetts] to hold the marketplace to a higher standard and to refuse to include Ecma-376 on its approved list.”

Open document efforts
Massachusetts is leading the charge for adoption of the Open Document Format (ODF) and on July 2 tagged a proposal to its electronic documents policy to add support for the OpenXML standard, which was first developed by Microsoft and standardized by Ecma International. Open document efforts in other states have not fared as well.

State Status
Massachusetts Working under limited deployment of ODF; Open XML open to public comment until July 20.
California Stalled in committee.
Connecticut Killed
Florida Killed
Minnesota Proposal watered down to mandate state's IT department study of open document issue.
New York Bill passed Assembly and amended to Senate legislation on production and preservation of electronic documents.
Oregon Killed
Texas Killed
Click to see: Open documents efforts

Bethann Pepoli, acting CIO of the ITD, said the commonwealth will not publish any correspondence it receives during the public comment period, which expires July 20, until after a final decision on adoption is made at the end of this month.

“We have received about 50 responses so far, but we have another week left,” she said during a July 12 interview. Unlike Updegrove, none of those respondents have made their comments public.

Pepoli said the response rate is not heavier than in 2005, when the state adopted ODF as an open format and received nearly 160 responses. The 2005 campaign sparked a firestorm of debate over open formats that eventually led to the resignation of both of the ITD CIOs who preceded Pepoli.

The proposal to adopt Open XML was made July 2 as part of Massachusetts’s Enterprise Technical Reference Model (ETRM) 4.0. The draft listed Ecma-376 as one of its major revisions. Today, ETRM only recognizes ODF as a standard, open format.

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RE: Critic bashes Massachusetts on Open XML proposalBy Anonymous on July 13, 2007, 2:52 pmI can't understand what the fuss is all about. What is the point of having money if you can't buy politicians and government officials into a scheme that allows...

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A long fight ahead with no reason to think Microsoft will winBy Micronet on July 13, 2007, 5:17 pm The story says. "Turbolinux will develop new tools to translate documents between ODF and Office 2007 Open XML. Two weeks ago, Sun released the first version...

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OpenXMLBy Anonymous on July 15, 2007, 8:41 pmThe OpenXML specification is a joke and doesn't deserve any government body's approval.

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