On Thu, 2008-02-28 at 09:22 -0500, Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak wrote: > One of the issues forcing me to keep a few MS Windows computer around in > my company are government services relying on Windows-only software, > like this example: > > http://www.statcan.ca/english/exports/download.htm > > My company is required to report all exports to non-US destinations > using the Windows-only program - or paper forms. Bleh.
I have had some involvement both at Ontario and at Federal levels in suggesting that the Canadian government move towards open, standard formats and Free software. It is a difficult struggle. At the Ontario Government showcase of Technology when I spoke, they insisted on PowerPoint slides. I refused. In the talk, I asked how many people thought that government proceedings, and presentatoins like these, should be archived for 10 years or more, and most people raised a hand. A majority did for 40 years. Then I asked how many people thought they would be able to read PowerPoint files in 20 years (after some examples o 20-year-old software like Wordstar, Magic Wand, etc) and there were I think zero hands. So there's understanding there (and there was a Minister in the audience, nodding away, there's understanding to some extent especially at the higher levels). Some arguments that go down well are * the need to archive * the need for accessibility * the need to repurpose information (e.g. print, Web, search...) * the need to control costs * the need to have control over core technology, to use trusted software * the need to encourage and support the Canadian IT industry Liam -- Liam Quin - XML Activity Lead, W3C, http://www.w3.org/People/Quin/ Pictures from old books: http://fromoldbooks.org/ Ankh: irc.sorcery.net irc.gnome.org www.advogato.org _______________________________________________ foundation-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
