Bonum Certa Men Certa

It's OpenDocument All the Way for Holland (and Other Office Suites News)

The Netherlands for open source and open standards

One of the original articles is in Dutch, so here is what an English-speaking blog had to share:

Frank Heemskerk, Minister of Economic Affairs, announced today that ODF will be the standard for reading, publishing and the exchange of information for all governmental organisations. The deadline is January 2009.


"Some of these nations have adopted strong pro-ODF policies."This is spectacular news and it would make a nice addition to the Wikipedia article on OpenDocument adoption. Among the countries that are already listed there you have: United States (particularly Massachusetts), United Kingdom (with emphasis on Bristol City Council), Belgium, Finland, Slovakia, Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, and Vietnam. Some of these nations have adopted strong pro-ODF policies.

Elsewhere in the news you'll find articles about the rise of Microsoft Office competitors, including OpenOffice, Google Apps, IBM's Lotus Symphony, and Zimbra, which has just been acquired by Yahoo. Here are some headlines from yesterday:



It is worth stressing that Google's Web-based products are increasingly becoming a viable alternative to desktop-bound office suites. The company that suffers the most is Microsoft, so it's hardly surprising that it has begun a FUD campaign. That's just how Microsoft handles competitive threats.

Microsoft is launching an anti-Google propaganda campaign.


Here are some more details:

This, of course, brought Google even closer to rivaling Microsoft's Office suite, which has now spurred a reaction from the Redmond software giant.

No, its not new software or updates for the popular productivity suite, but rather Microsoft's own reasoning on why businesses should NOT use Google Apps.


We spotted this type of FUD earlier on [1, 2, 3, 4], amid the OOXML/ISO fiasco. A question has also just been raised to ask why Microsoft Office escaped Europe's wrath.

Over the past decade, government sanctions and monitoring efforts on both sides of the pond have helped level the playing field for competitors, allowing Linux, for example, to gain significant market share in the server operating system software market and Firefox to achieve respectable share of the web browser market against Microsoft’s once ubiquitous Internet Explorer.

How did Office get left out of the equation?


Keen observation there.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
The Myth of an Aging (or Dying) GNU/Linux Leadership
Self-fulfilling prophecies as a tactic?
 
Rumour: Major Finance Layoffs at Microsoft Next Week
If the rumour is true, we'll be hearing barely anything from the mainstream media next week
Links 07/12/2023: More EPO Patents Squashed, More Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine "Glitches" Found
Links for the day
Still Not 'Canceled'
Ted Ts'o, Jan Kara, Linus Torvalds last month
Google is Googlebombing the Term "Gemini"
Could Google not pick a name that's already "taken"?
Links 06/12/2023: Bitcoin Rebound, China Downgraded by American Firm, Yahoo! Layoffs Again
Links for the day
Shooting the Messenger Using Bribes and Secrecy Bonds
We seem to live in a world where accountability for the rich and well-connected barely exists anymore
Links 06/12/2023: Many More December Layoffs
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 05, 2023
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 05, 2023
PipeWire 1.0: Linux audio comes of age
Once upon a time, serious audio users like musicians and audio engineers had real trouble with Linux
This is How 'Linux' Foundation Presents Linux to the World
Right now it even picks Windows over Linux in some cases
Links 05/12/2023: Microsoft's Chatbot as Health Hazard
Links for the day
There's Nothing "Funny" About Attacking Free Speech and Software Freedom
persistent focus on the principal issues is very important
Professor Eben Moglen Explained How Software Patent Threats Had Changed Around 2014 (Alice Case) and What Would Happen Till 2025
clip aged reasonably well
GNU/Linux Adoption in Africa, a Passageway Towards Freedom From Neo-Colonialism
Digi(tal)-Colonialism and/or Techolonialism are a thing. Can Africa flee the trap?
CNN Contributes to Demolition of the Open Web
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Eben Moglen on Encryption and Anonymity
The alternate net we need, and how we can build it ourselves
Yet More Microsofters Inside the Board of Mozilla (Which Has Just Outsourced Firefox Development to Microsoft's Proprietary Prison)
Do you want a browser controlled (and spied on) by such a company?
IRC Proceedings: Monday, December 04, 2023
IRC logs for Monday, December 04, 2023
GNU/Linux Now Exceeds 3.6% Market Share on Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
things have changed for Windows in China
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
Links 05/12/2023: Debt Brake in Germany and Layoffs at Condé Nast (Reddit, Wired, Ars Technica and More)
Links for the day