A CNN article describes how the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is adopting a new requirement that government documents be distributed only PDF and OpenDocument formats. The objective is to ensure that the documents are accessible to the public now, and will continue to be accessible in the future. There have been many known cases of new releases of proprietary software, such as Microsoft Office, failing to correctly deal with older documents in proprietary formats.
The article quotes Alan Yates of Microsoft as saying
As we look to the future, and all of these data types become increasingly intertwined, locked-in formats like OpenDocument are not well suited to address these varying data types
“Locked-in formats like OpenDocument”??? Sounds like he’s completely confused about OpenDocument vs. the Microsoft proprietary formats. Microsoft complaining about “locked- in formats” is like the AFLCIO complaining about the high cost of labor, or a pharmaceutical company complaining about the high cost of prescription medications.
As far as I’m concerned, if Microsoft isn’t willing to support open file formats, they can take a flying f^%$ at a rolling donut. They’re definitely not getting any more of my money. I hope other states (particularly California) follow Massachusetts’ lead.