State Open-Source Bills Get Microsoft's Attention
Ed Homan, an orthopedic surgeon representing a central Florida district in the state legislature, thought an amendment calling for open-source-document formats he tucked into a 38-page bill wouldn't draw much attention.
But within an hour of the proposed bill's reading in late March, Dr. Homan said, he was greeted in his office by three lobbyists representing Microsoft Corp. "They were here lickety-split," he said. "I had no idea it was going to get that kind of reaction."
State-by-state skirmishes over open-source-document formats represent the latest showdown in a long-running, and so far unsuccessful, campaign to topple Microsoft's sheer dominance of the desktop-software- application market. Four other states since January have seen language similar to Dr. Homan's included in proposed bills.
Document formats serve as an underlying digital container, controlling access to files like spreadsheets and the ability to share them. Efforts like Dr. Homan's could lead to broader use by states of OpenDocument Format, or ODF, an open-source technology promoted by Microsoft's competitors.
ODF, analysts say, could undercut one of Microsoft's most essential businesses by opening the door to alternatives to Excel and Word and other popular productivity applications owned by the world's biggest software company.
Characteristically, as lawmakers like Dr. Homan have learned, Microsoft is hardly taking a passive position.
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
- 1291 reads
- PDF version
More in Tux Machines
- Highlights
- Front Page
- Latest Headlines
- Archive
- Recent comments
- All-Time Popular Stories
- Hot Topics
- New Members
digiKam 7.7.0 is releasedAfter three months of active maintenance and another bug triage, the digiKam team is proud to present version 7.7.0 of its open source digital photo manager. See below the list of most important features coming with this release. |
Dilution and Misuse of the "Linux" Brand
|
Samsung, Red Hat to Work on Linux Drivers for Future TechThe metaverse is expected to uproot system design as we know it, and Samsung is one of many hardware vendors re-imagining data center infrastructure in preparation for a parallel 3D world. Samsung is working on new memory technologies that provide faster bandwidth inside hardware for data to travel between CPUs, storage and other computing resources. The company also announced it was partnering with Red Hat to ensure these technologies have Linux compatibility. |
today's howtos
|
They did this in Mass, in California... and even here in the UK!
I am worried that they know no bounds. With so much cash in stake, law is not a concern. Some settlement money can allow them to weasel out.