Bonum Certa Men Certa

Hungary Pulls Ahead of the UK in Open Standards Adoption

Flags of Hungary



Summary: Stronger policy in Hungary to facilitate adoption of Free software; mere promises in the UK seen as insufficient

LAST WEEK we wrote about the ongoing transformation of Hungarian ICT. It is no longer about "mixed source" companies like Novell and to a large degree it is also about open standards like ODF (since early in the year). Slashdot has this update which translates an article written in Hungarian and summarises it as follows: "Mandatory Use of Open Standards In Hungary"

"Hungarian Parliament has made the use of open standards mandatory by law in the intercommunication between public administration offices, public utility companies, citizens and voluntarily joining private companies, conducted via the central governmental system. The Open Standards Alliance initiating the amendment aims to promote the spread of monopoly-free markets that foster the development of interchangeable and interoperable products generated by open standards, and, consequently, broad competition markets, regardless of whether the IT systems of interconnecting organizations and individuals use open or closed source software. In the near future, in spite of EU tendencies the Alliance seeks to make its approach – interoperability based on publicly defined open standards – the EU norm under the Hungarian presidency of the European Union in 2011. To that end, it will promote public collaboration – possibly between every interested party, civil and political organization in the European Union. What do you think: what would be the best way to cooperate?"


Over in the UK, Simon Phipps points out that an inquiry leaves much to be desired. Linking to a government department's written answer and statement, he claims that "this answer makes it clear that although the Labour government may have posted an "action plan" on open source and open standards, it does not expect any "action" on anyone's part - otherwise it would have a set of metrics in place and a monitoring scheme devised." Microsoft still has tremendous influence over the British government.

More on Hungary



Recent Techrights' Posts

Soylent News Editor Stays, Trolls Leave Instead
Some of us asked him not to resign but pause and reconsider
Corporate Media Did Not Report on Mass Layoffs at IBM's Expert Labs
Not a single media outlet even mentioned those mass layoffs!
In BetaNoise, The "Latest Technology News" is Noise (Still!)
If you fail to get the slop under control, the site as a whole will perish
Defaming, Impersonating, Hijacking Accounts is Abusive If Not Illegal/Criminal Behaviour
There are actual victims here
If Your Bicycle Got Stolen, Then Open a Facebook Account and Send the US Lots of Personal Data to Get the Bicycle Back (or Try to)
"No Help Unless You Open an Account at Facebook"
Growing Recognition Out There That Courts Must Abandon Microsoft or Have No Perception of Authority, Autonomy, Independence, Fairness, and More
Imagine making a complaint about Microsoft to an agency that uses Microsoft
The Next Talk of Richard Stallman (Father of GNU/Linux and the GPL) Advertised in the Media 3 Days in Advance
He spoke in Italy earlier this year and also did some interviews
Free Software as a Culture of Resistance
Free software as a movement accomplished a lot in 40+ years
 
Links 24/05/2025: From War on Science to War on Academia, Chagos Islands Handed Over to Mauritius
Links for the day
Links 24/05/2025: Leasehold Myths and Analog Computer
Links for the day
Links 24/05/2025: Google Helps Slop Videos, Microsoft Resorts to Desperate Measures to Fake Demand for Slop
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/05/2025: New Home and Force/Drag Simulation
Links for the day
Sometimes Legal Action is Imperative (Even if Recovering the Cost of the Litigation Itself is Infeasible)
Sirius got sued, but the company has no money (large piles of debt)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 23, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 23, 2025
Simpler is Better
Gemini Protocol turns 6 in exactly 4 weeks
Slopwatch: Brian Fagioli, Brittany Day, and Other Plagiarists Who Rip Off Real Writers and Target Themes Around "Linux"
Fagioli also prompted chatbots for some words diarrhoea
Links 23/05/2025: Microsoft Openwashing at ZDNet, Signal Does It Wrong (DRM, Back Doors Still Intact)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/05/2025: Clutter in Modern Interfaces and Dealing With DRM-Free Music
Links for the day
Links 23/05/2025: Tax Audits of Hong Kong's Independent as ‘Intimidation Tactics,’ Why "Regulating X Isn’t Censorship"
Links for the day
TecAdmin Took a Break From Linux to Push SPAM
This happened hours ago, and it seems to have been posted directly by the site's "Admin" (Rahul)
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Joking He'd Work on Code for "Sexual Favours"
For one thing, for software professionals (like for landlords), this is outright illegal and you'd get arrested for it, and moreover it's no joking matter because there are many real victims of such sexual exploitation
We Seem to Have Abandoned Science and Replaced Sound Policy With Private Patent Shareholders and College Dropouts Like Bill Epsteingate
Because of what they did there are now many people out there who reject all vaccines
Links 23/05/2025: Violent Attacks on the Press, VMware Price Hikes, Vista 11 Considered Unsuitable for Any Confidentiality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/05/2025: Balkan Tourism, UK Polls, Reticulum and Meshtastic
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 22, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, May 22, 2025
Back to Basics, Folks, "AI" (Plagiarism) is Symptom of a Dying Industry Looking for Whatever Prey It Can Devour
lousy/sloppy imitations
Liam Proven's Thoughts on "AI" Being a Scam No Different From Religions, Alternative Medicine, and More
"Is there anywhere outside of retrocomputing that doesn't have AI in it?"
Many IBM Layoffs, Centred Around Expert Labs US in Atlanta (Offer of "Relocation" Where No Such Option Exists)
So Techrights was assessing comments/gossip online and it was right about the Thursday cull
Slopwatch: Slopfarms That 'Hallucinate' (Yield Falsehoods) Cited as Credible Sources and Microsoft Media Gaslighting Everybody
Part of the problem is, Google News
More Media Coverage and Photos From Richard Stallman's Presentation in Liberec (Czech Republic)
Here are some photos
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Spooking Women for at Least Two Decades
censorship was the ultimate goal
Links 22/05/2025: Openwashing, Dumping Microsoft's Entrapment (Microsoft GitHub), and New Climate Disasters
Links for the day
Richard Stallman's Next Public Talk is in Milan, Italy Next Week
Happy hacking
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: Crimson Pro Font and CGI in Bash
Links for the day
IBM Goes to India, Fires People in the United States (Under the Guise of "Relocation" or Similar), Accusation of Bribery in the Company
LLM slop sites (some are pure slopfarms) from India say the IBM layoffs result in hiring "AI" (the "I" stands for India)
Why We'll Continue Covering EPO Abuses (Other Patent Offices as Well, as the Need Arises) for Many Years to Come
We're basically becoming Russia
Links 22/05/2025: TikTok Laying Off Again, Microsoft-Backed Builder.ai Set for Bankruptcy, Scam Altman Uses 'Funny Money' to 'Buy' (Hire) Company
Links for the day
These Feet Are Made for Walking
Humans are apparently so very clever that they decided to form a "progressive" consensus: feet no more
The Evolution of Microsoft's War on GNU/Linux
13 sins
OFTC Has Just Culled About a Third of Its Online Users
It's not the first time they purge or force offline many people/bots
My New Desk Arrangement (and More Breaks From the Keyboard)
all in all yesterday I devoted 4-5 hours to redoing and shuffling stuff
Central Staff Committee of the EPO Opposes Abuses Against EPO Staff, Challenging SuccessFactors Stunts
Europe became institutionally colonised
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: "Conspirituality" and Visiting One's Old University
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 21, 2025