Η government of the United Kingdom has taken the first steps to move from the Microsoft Office format to the ODF format in an effort to steer the entire government apparatus towards open source.
The proposal to go to Open Document Format has been posted on the Cabinet Office website, which is part of the government that supports the Prime Minister as well as the Deputy Prime Minister and ensures the efficient operation of the government.
The article posted on his website office of the Cabinet, is called "Challenge: Handling or Collaborating in Government Documents" and explains the purpose of this argument, which is sure to bring headaches to Microsoft headquarters.
"The users σε αυτή την πρόκληση συμπεριλαμβανομένων των πολιτών, των επιχειρήσεων και των συνεργατών διανομής που πρέπει να ανταλλάσσουν πληροφορίες με την κυβέρνηση, θα πρέπει να χρησιμοποιούν επεξεργάσιμα έγγραφα. Οι χρήστες είναι επίσης αξιωματούχοι σε κυβερνητικές υπηρεσίες που πρέπει να μοιράζονται και να εργάζονται σε έγγραφα από κοινού”, αναφέρει η πρόταση του Ηνωμένου Βασιλείου.
The article also mentions the expected benefits from such a bold move. Most importantly, users (whoever they are) should not purchase the software in order to submit documents to government officials or agencies because of the format required in the document.
Documents that must now be compatible with Open Document Format are: text editing, spreadsheets, and presentations. If you look closely, these are just Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
There are a number of free available office suites available for download already, such as LibreOffice and OpenOffice, with which you can save documents in this format.
Although other individual cities around the world had received equivalents? decisions, i.e. to go into the form of documents open κώδικα, η Ββρετανική κυβέρνηση είναι ο μεγαλύτερος οργανισμός που έχει εκφράσει το ενδιαφέρον της προς την open source, although for now the article only refers to Open Document Formats.
It is safe to say that a number of open source organizations have already expressed support for this decision, including the Document Foundation. "The Document Foundation enthusiastically supports the UK Government's proposal to support and adopt ODF 1.1 and ODF 1.2, together with HTML 4.01 and HTML5, CSV and TXT, for the exchange or cooperation of government documents" says a comment under the UK article.
