Massachusetts Takes Steps Towards Dumping Windows
|
Written By Reprise Media | September 2, 2005 | Share This
|
|
Massachusetts is prepping for the March of the Penguins and we’re not talking about the cinematic kind.
The state will be undergoing an overhaul of its software and document systems and dramatically increasing its use of Linux and other free, open-source software.
Massachusetts CIO Peter Quinn took Microsoft and other companies to task for their proprietary document formats designed to keep the competition out:
“Government is creating history at a rapidly increasing rate, and all documents we save must be accessible to everybody, without having to use ‘closed’ software to open them now and in the future.”
This initiative is a big deal, as right now the vast majority of state documents and software are run on Windows. All that is set to change, starting January 1 of 2007, when the new open-source standards will be put in place.
Score one for the same state that brought you the Boston Tea Party and score zero for Big Bill. If others follow suit this could have a big impact on Microsoft’s bottom line.
This article on eWeek has more.
Topics: Technology |