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Microsoft could get the boot from the French government if a new recommendation from an official advisor is adopted.
DISIC (Direction interministérielle des systèmes d'information et de communication de l'État) has recommended that French authorities ditch Microsoft Office tools in favour of the Open Document Format (ODF). DISIC is responsible for harmonising and reducing the costs of all state computers, including government ministries, state and regional departments and local authorities, and sees ODF as the best way to make them all interoperable.
According to sources, an initial draft of the report envisaged outlawing Microsoft's Open XML altogether, although with some agencies using tools specifically developed for use with Open XML, DISIC relented.
However, the final version strongly encourages the phasing out of Microsoft's ware in favour of ODF.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 26 2015, @12:37AM
Your AC here.
Maybe you do not care about your freedoms being violated ...
I'm paying for software and using it for what I need it for. I'm not giving up anything except money. Software is a tool for me and I use it to generate income for my family. The "if you're not using F/OSS you're a pawn in the software industry's game and you have traded your soul for a license to use their software" mentality is too drama queen for me. I buy something that meets my needs. It works and meets my needs. Period. My time has value, just like yours does. I choose to spend less of it twiddling with something that comes close to getting the job done, but not quite, and more of it either working billable hours or spending it with my family. It may only save me an hour or two a week, but that's enough to watch a movie on the couch.
... but the government and schools have absolutely no business providing corporate welfare or using software that discourages education and subjugates users.
If you're saying that governments - and by extension any federal, state or local agencies that use taxpayer dollars to fund their operation - should always try to use products that are lower cost (as long as their needs are met) then I agree with you. The cost of ownership - including support over the expected lifetime of the product - should be the lowest as long as it meets their actual needs and not some "ooh, and one person needs xyz so we all have to have Product ABC!" bullshit (the same kind of crap that employers use to sneak N1B visa workers into the country). If a F/OSS product - and its support - meet their requirements then the F/OSS products should be used.
Total cost of ownership can be as fuzzy as Hollywood accounting, but it should be easy to calculate "if we switch to this F/OSS product, and have to spend $X millions to retrain everyone, will it still save us $ millions in the long run?". The answer will often be "Yes!" and so that effort should be made. Unfortunately that type of long-term commitment isn't a priority in any taxpayer-funded situation.
But when it comes to me, I'm allowed to trade my money for time with my family. And if you think that means I'm giving up freedoms, well, you and I have very different priorities.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2015, @08:34AM
Remember the introduction of ribbons?
How about windows 8?
The argument that FOSS TCO is more expensive because everyone is used to Windows and would otherwise require training is retarded. LibreOffice Writer is more like old versions of Word than current versions of Word is.
In many cases FOSS is cheaper because it's free and the amount of work integrating it isn't significantly higher than integrating any updated Microsoft product. Where FOSS really shines though is savings over the long run.