FOX News: Massachusetts Should Close Down OpenDocument

Ok, have I got a really BIG beef with James Prendergast's comments in his Op Ed piece at FOX News. Here are his comments followed by mine

The policy promises to burden taxpayers with new costs and to disrupt how state agencies interact with citizens, businesses and organizations.

Let's begin with defining what OpenDocument is. OpenDocuments is an open standards based file format that is open to anyone to copy or work with. See OpenDocument FAQ for a more detailed outline. Here is just one quote from the FAQ OpenDocument is owned by OASIS, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the open development of public XML standards. and here OpenDocument is royalty-free. It can be used without charge by anyone..

Now, since the file format is free, how does Mr. Prendergast's comment make this new file format to burden taxpayers with new costs? The latest version of Open Office version 1.1.5 allows one to download the office suite for free and open any OpenDocment at will!! How does that increase one's cost?

Worse, the policy represents an attack on market-based competition, which in turn will hurt innovation

As if market-based competition is the ONLY game in town? Riiigghhttt!! I don't think that Prendergast has ever heard about what Thomas Jefferson did with his Plow Moldboard of Least Resistance? He designed it and did NOT patent it. Was this what Jefferson was thinking when Predergast stated Massachusetts’ citizens and government agencies have been well served by a competitive, merit-based procurement process for technology services? So free fails to innovate? Riiiggghhhtt!!!

But for now, the policy simply promises enormous and unnecessary migration costs to Massachusetts’ taxpayers. The mandate forces the entire state government to acquire new technologies, train personnel, and contract for new services and support.

And you don't think that Microsoft's future Office 12 will force the entire state government to acquire new technologies, train personnel, and contract for new services and support?

I could go on, but this is too ridiculous to keep commenting on.

Mapping the Wireless Jungle

Here are a few sites that discuss wireless networks for people.

Wigle.net has a web map of most of the 70% or so of free wireless access points, or hotspots, across the US and elsewhere that you can access from your wireless laptop.

Freepress has a link to the local governments that are putting up whole town hotspots for people to use.

Or, you can take a look at WiFiFreeSpot to find an easier locate for free hotspots.

I wonder if someone could like Google Maps with this info to produce a great looking map.

Only time will tell.

Will proprietary file formats raise your taxes?

"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts says legal worries helped drive it to open standards, but Microsoft has lambasted the move."

So imagine this: your state or local government uses a proprietary (i.e. Intellectual Property, IP) file format from a company and begins using it. At some point either the company goes out of business, and your local government is stuck with it, or the company begins pressuring your local government for more money. Now, you not only have to pay taxes to your state or local government but your taxes were just raised because of the proprietary nature of this technology.

Is this something in which you want your state and local officials to intangle your tax dollars with? And not only does your hard earned tax dollars go to IP but now you as a citizen have to purchase this proprietary format to deal with you governments.

Is this something which you want to be locked into?

Is your boss a psychopath?

It makes you wonder how many more of them are out there like the likes of WorldCom, Enron, etc?

Is it creativity or control of the market?

After reading this ariticle, it make me wonder how our capitalistic society has grown from a collaboration to a "win at all costs" sort of mentality. I believe in the Free Enteprise system, but this system needs moral and ethical choices to be made. Crushing the competition means that you can't or won't innovate for your customers. With Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) you, as the customer, no longer are "locked in" to a vendors decisions, but you hold the cards. Control means you limit the amount of creativity that can be done with your product and service, but if you're creative you outdo your competition.

While most are against new government taxes, what about Microsoft "taxes"

Ok, now I've heard all of it. Now Big Business, such as Microsoft, costs our governments plenty of money, albeit discounted per license, but when a government wants to be more inclusive toward it's citizens, Microsoft balks? Hmmm, me thinks this is the wrong approach by Microsoft and I think that this is the break in the Microsoft money dike that will erode their dominant position.