Is this a first for the Government?

[johnhudson]

Note the format of this Cabinet Office document:

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/d ... 2011_0.odt

Good to find it on Document Freedom Day - but it was a German website that pointed me to it.

[caf4926]

Note the format of this Cabinet Office document:

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/d ... 2011_0.odt

Good to find it on Document Freedom Day - but it was a German website that pointed me to it.

Interesting. Albeit a predictably waffle doc.

[guy]

Yes it's true, Her Majesty's Government do indeed seriously want to make friends with us. Not only do they mandate open standards as compulsory, but they understand that free as in freedom means less chance of being ripped off, and they want our software.

Of course, persuading their droids to wake up and smell the coffee is another story

That's what this strategy is all about. They have even published it in html, pdf, odt and (boo hiss) doc formats so no droid can have any excuse. I note the absence of docx and would love to know if that is also a political statement or just a reflection of their current IT desktop.

See also:

http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13283

http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13477

http://bit.ly/hDuFEG (Tariq Rashid is a systems bod at the Home Office)

And rumour has it that CESG, the Government's IT Security folks, are close to publishing a Good Practice Guide to Open Source Software Procurement. That'll be another hurdle removed.

Keep on keepin' on.

[jamie_tickner]

the pdf file i read from the cabinet office states that the government will create an open source advisory group!

[guy]

the pdf file i read from the cabinet office states that the government will create an open source advisory group!

Not to mention an Open Source Implementation Group, a skunkworks and a "fully operational, online Applications Store". Is Open Source pronounced "Lockheed"? Is online applications store pronounced "battle station" in an incisive I-am-the-bad-Emperor kind of voice? Who wrote this stuff? And who says bureaucrats have no sense of humour?

[nelz]

Lockheed are diversifying into area where they can do more damage than with a B1 bomber, like administering the UK census.

[guy]

Lockheed are diversifying into area where they can do more damage than with a B1 bomber, like administering the UK census.

Have to say I'd rather have my religion accidentally-on-purpose recorded as "Kelly Johnson worship" than have a bomb dropped on me.

But I do love the idea of a secret development facility for Open Source Software.

[aled]

Well, this can only be a good thing right?

I think I read somewhere that the government in Germany used open office exclusively.

(:

Al

[ollie]

But I do love the idea of a secret development facility for Open Source Software.

I thought that was Google's Android development

[Mikeo0302]

I note the absence of docx and would love to know if that is also a political statement or just a reflection of their current IT desktop.

I left the civil service last June. On the day I left we were using Office 2003 and IE6 for web-browsing and various browser-run programs, which more often than not handled confidential data.

[johnhudson]

I left the civil service last June. On the day I left we were using Office 2003 and IE6 for web-browsing and various browser-run programs, which more often than not handled confidential data.

Goodness me! You mean their software was more up-to-date than their menagement methods

[Rhakios]

I left the civil service last June. On the day I left we were using Office 2003 and IE6 for web-browsing and various browser-run programs, which more often than not handled confidential data.

Goodness me! You mean their software was more up-to-date than their menagement methods

The IBM PC was only thirty this week.

[Mikeo0302]

Goodness me! You mean their software was more up-to-date than their menagement methods

The management techniques were distinctly feudal.