Michael Janapin Senior IT Personnel Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary
Nature of Work: 1. Computer Care and Management of entire school 2. Management of Official Records/Documents 3. Network Management > > - how does it affect you specifically (being an advanced user / > someone in the know / a professional in a related field). > > It will be difficult for me to make sure that our data is constantly accessible if enforced to a standard that is not open. If OOXML will be the Philippine standards for documents, our access to our data will be highly dependent on software that implements such standard. In this case Microsoft software. Accessibility for me means data can be read/written independent of the software that created it. Although we can still utilize Open Standards, this will lead to more work as described in the next paragraph. As the head I.T. personnel, I will be tasked to make our documents cross-compatible with other agencies. This will mean more work on my part. Instead of focusing on other important things (e.g., network security), much of my time will be wasted converting our OpenStandards compliant documents to a close standard documents -- for the sake of cross-compatibility; and this is also true vice-versa. This is not only a unnecessary waste of human resources, but other resources as well such as electric power and storage consumption. > - > - how does OOXML affect the typical computer user (your average Jose > and Maria). > > Cross compatibility will be their main issue. Right now, our users call the I.T. department to resolve problems regarding documents sent to them in a propriety format. They also call us to resolve problems like the format they sent is unreadable by the receiving party. > > - > - what is its relevance to your industry, if any > > Our school is non-profit. I think finding extra money to make sure our Documents are OOXML compliant will be too hard. > > - > - what would've been the proper procedure in choosing an open > standard > > The number one priority is accessibility to our data. Our data should be independent from the software that created it. That means, whatever software I use, that data should be readable/writeable. > > - > - how important is an open standard > > Open standard means freedom for the end-users to choose software that will implement their scheme the way they want to. Closed standard cuts this freedom. It unnecessarily ties the end-user to a particular software. > > - > - add anything else you feel will help our cause > > > > - > > Please provide your name and relevant info about you (ie the kind of work > you do, position, etc., that'd give weight to your opinion) > > I'm directing these questions openly to the list in lieu of the 'proper' > way, which is to ask a specific spokesperson or committee (because we don't > have any yet). Anyone who replies will help form the basis of our opinion, > hence your info is necessary - in other words, you will stand by it - so > take your time and choose your words carefully. > > I'll put all our arguments on the site, both the drafts and the final > form. > > Let's go tell them what we think. > > Gary > > -- Mhac Janapin PBTS System Administrator Baguio City, Philippines ============= http://mulingsilang.wordpress.com ============= I'm an Open Source Enthusiast. c",)
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