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Massachusetts Falls to OOXML as ITD Punts

Posted by Andy_Updegrove on · 26 comments
ConsortiumInfo.org Standards Blog; By Andy Updegrove 		Mail this story
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In a not anticipated move, Massachusetts announced today that Microsoft's OOXML formats have made the grade. The announcement was made even as it appears more questionable whether the National Body members of ISO/IEC JTC1 will conclude that the formats are good enough to be granted global standards status, and despite the fact that the ITD receive comments from 460 individuals and organizations during the brief comment period announced on July 5 - most of them relating to the inclusion of OOXML.



In the announcement, the Information Technology Division stated, " We believe that...concerns [about OOXML], as with those regarding ODF, are appropriately handled through the standards setting process, and we expect both standards to evolve and improve.... Moreover, we believe that the impact of any legitimate concerns raised about either standard is outweighed substantially by the benefits of moving toward open, XML-based document format standards." This "Fair and Balanced - let someone else decide" decision by the new administration and Interim CIO Bethann Pepoli stands in sharp contrast to the positions taken by predecessor CIOs Peter Quinn and Louis Gutierrez, backed by then governor (and now-presidential hopeful) Mitt Romney. Both Quinn and Gutierrez insisted on including only "open standards" in the ETRM, and withstood significant pressure from Microsoft to give ground and accept OOXML prior to its adoption by ISO/IEC JTC1.

Further details and analysis are here:

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Comments (26)

6 earlier comments in the full thread.

dinotrac ·
>An even more appropriate title would be : how much $ shifted hands here?

I hope it was a lot.

I can respect (in an odd way) good old-fashioned corruption. Dim-witted and lazy cowardice, on the other hand...
jacog ·
Not so odd, dino... I too prefer evil over stupid.
dinotrac ·
>I too prefer evil over stupid.

At least you can count on evil. Stupid's just too unpredictable.
jacog ·
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good... is dumb."

( bzzzzzt, thread off-topic alert )
dinotrac ·
>Evil will always triumph over good, because good... is dumb

Yeah, that's what I was telling the Fuhrer this morning.
jacog ·
Dumb AND evil still falls under the category of dumb.
gus3 ·
Paging Inspector Clouseau...

(Is there such an alignment in D&D as "catastrophic good"?)
mvermeer ·
> At least you can count on evil. Stupid's just too unpredictable

Perhaps more relevantly, evil is a choice. Not surprising to see freedom-loving people feeling an affinity with it ;-)
moopst ·
I've often said that MicroSoft must internally use the Orwellian slogan "Ignorance is Profit". They got caught red handed fabricating evidence in Judge Penfield Jackson's court and wound up pissing him off. I'll bet these moves will only wind up pissing off more and more of their customers (proles). They're painting themselves in a corner with their proprietary formats and vendor lock in.
tuxchick ·
Everyone who thinks liking the Bee Gees is uncool raise your hand.

I dare you.

tracyanne ·
This raised hand is from an Australian. The Bee Gees and Kylie Minogue totally uncool.
jacog ·
I thought the Bee Gees where originally from the Isle of Man. Er, not that I would know aaaanything abuot that, of course.

As for Australians... Nick Cave... cool. Shane Warne... not. :P

( South African here )
dinotrac ·
>Everyone who thinks liking the Bee Gees is uncool raise your hand.

I think the first time I truly wanted to kill somebody while feeling old (and I was in my mid twenties!!!!) was after the Bee Gees covered Sgt Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band.

The underaged girlfriend of a drummer friend looked at me and asked, "Oh, the Beatles did that too?"
Bob_Robertson ·
I lived in Massachusetts for a few years. There is no depth that the government of Massachusetts could sink to that would surprise me.

I assure you this isn't even a "lowpoint". Merely par for the course. Why do you think Peter Quinn (sp?) moved on to other work so quickly after it was discovered that he had made a decision good for the _citizens_?
jdixon ·
> Everyone who thinks liking the Bee Gees is uncool raise your hand.

Which Bee Gees? The Bee Gees of New York Mining Disaster 1941, To Love Somebody, Massachusetts, I've Gotta Get a Message to You, and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart; or the Bee Gees of Saturday Night Fever, You Should Be Dancing, Jive Talkin, and Stayin' Alive?

There almost like two completely different bands.
tuxchick ·
lordamercy jdixon, how old are you??
jdixon ·
I turned 49 last month, TC.
tuxchick ·
oh, so you didn't hear the Bee Gees of New York Mining Disaster live. Don't know how I got that idea. :)

you should be dancing.....
jacog ·
Well, can't you tell by the way he uses his walk? Anyway, back on topic... DID the lights all go down in Massachusetts?
Bob_Robertson ·
Didn't the lights go out in Georgia?

If they did, I blame it all on the knights on Broadway.

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