Everybody's Guide to OpenDocument

A lot of misinformation about the OpenDocument digital format has started
to appear in the mainstream media and interest groups. Answers to many
questions on the topic already have appeared, but they are written by
techies for techies. This article is different, however. You can print
out this one and pass it on to everyone, regardless of their computer
skill level.
What Is this About?
Everybody watching CNN uses a lot of technologies first developed for, and
as a result of, space exploration. The scientific data and engineering
know-how collected in those first space missions are extremely valuable
knowledge that should remain available forever.

Unfortunately, storing valuable data inside computers is no guarantee of
its availability. Did you know that scientists "couldn't read magnetic tapes
from the 1976 Viking landings on Mars?... With the data in an unknown
format, [they] had to track down printouts and hire students to retype
everything"
(full
story available here). That was quite a waste of money, wasn't
it? This situation occurred less than 30 years ago, and it was able to be
fixed because paper copies were available, a format everybody could read.

Now, try thinking about the same thing happening to your digital records:
pension forms, family budget spreadsheets, graduation slideshow,
mortgage contract. It's scary to think about, especially if you consider
that it could happen in much less than 30 years. Sometimes, simply upgrading
or changing your word processor creates this kind of problem.
What Are File Formats?
File formats are the rules that specify, for each type of data, which
sequences of bits mean what. A file format specification contains all of
the information needed to write and read that kind of file in any
computer program. As far as we are concerned, file formats are open if the
corresponding specification is completely available without requiring
users to pay fees or placing any other restriction of any kind. The file
format is considered to be more or less closed in all other cases. It is
possible to write software that always can read old files created with
other software only if the format is an open one. This holds true even
if--and this is the whole point--the company that wrote that original software
vanishes or decides to charge exorbitant fees for its latest version. This is
why open file formats for office documents are vital for everybody,
from you to your state archives and libraries.
Enter OpenDocument
Today there is a way to make sure that digital office files remain always
available without incurring unnecessary expenses: the
OpenDocument
file format for text, spreadsheets and presentations. This format has been created
by Oasis, a large
consortium of industries such as Boeing, IBM and Microsoft. It
officially is released to be usable by anyone, without fee. A number of
factors guarantee that OpenDocument files always will be usable: the number of
Oasis members, their combined experience, their commitment to keep OpenDocument
free from restrictions and its
submission for approval to the International Standards Organizations.
Therefore,
OpenDocument users will not need to spend much money and effort
to migrate their files from one program to another if the one they currently
run becomes too expensive, slow or cumbersome to use. That's what free market is
all about, isn't it?
Getting the Facts Straight
OpenDocument has all it needs to level the playing field in the
productivity software industry, currently dominated by Microsoft Office,
and guarantee long-term availability of digital records. For this second
reason, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
recently
declared that it will
store its digital files in the OpenDocument format, starting January 1, 2007. The
Commonwealth also has answered on-line the most
frequently
asked questions (FAQ) about this policy. Attacks to this decision already have appeared
in the mainstream media. Most of them, however, contain several errors or
serious omissions. The rest of this article explains in normal language
what these errors and omissions are, in order to give you the necessary
information to protect your civil rights and your money.

The two attacks on OpenDocument that best represent the errors of
fact and omission were made by the director of Americans for Technology
Leadership (AfTL) on the
Fox News
Web site and by
Citizens
Against Governments Waste (CAGW). AfTL is an organization whose
founding members include Microsoft and CAGW. James Prendergast, the
director of AfTL, said that this Massachusetts policy is a terrible
decision. But, he failed to mention that OpenDocument already
fulfills the EU criteria on open standards, as declared in
this
article. Nor did he mention that several other states, such as Peru,
already have passed or are discussing laws that, in the same spirit,
acknowledge that
"information
autonomy"--
"Free access to public information by the citizen and Permanence of
public data" (www.opensource.org/docs/peru_and_ms.php)--is
the most important thing.

Even the
CAGW press release
shows the same kind of inaccuracies. For example, the release complains
about the cost of "converting more than one million current files to the
new format". But, the FAQ tells us that only documents created after January
1, 2007, must be in the OpenDocument format.

By ignoring what actually was declared, the AfTL article predicts
Massachusetts will face a total halt to progress and a massive waste of
public money as a result of its decision to use OpenDocument.
It
says, for example, "Businesses, organizations and citizens who
interact with the state will also be forced to support Massachusetts'
mandated technologies....even citizens who want to take advantage of
online services will potentially have to purchase, install and learn
new software to comply with the policy".

Using the same method, CAGW kindly informs "private sector businesses
and average citizens" that they "could face compatibility problems in
exchanging documents with all of the state agencies".

However, Massachusetts' FAQ explicitly says that the policy "applies only to
documents created by Executive Department agencies. It does not require
that citizens, businesses, and other governments use OpenDocument in
communicating with the Executive Department". Luckily, this works both
ways. The policy won't force Massachusetts citizens to use
OpenDocument-enabled software, but they will be able to use such
software. That is, they will be able to exchange OpenDocument files with
their administration, without any loss of formatting, unnecessary expenses
or objection from the state.

In Massachusetts' new policy, the AfTL sees the end of the "competitive, merit-based
procurement process for technology services" used by Massachusetts so
far. The FAQ explicitly says, "[the policy] does not require
that agencies use only one office product. To the contrary, it offers
agencies many choices. Agencies may choose to retain their existing
MS Office licenses, as long as they use a method to save documents in
OpenDocument Format. They may also use one of the many office tools
that support OpenDocument Format in native format". In fact, the policy
is not against any specific application. Specifically, it does not
force Massachusetts to choose among only those products already supporting
OpenDocument. Nothing, either in the current policy or elsewhere,
prevents Microsoft from adding OpenDocument support to MS Office. If
Microsoft did adopt the OpenDocument format, nobody could accuse the
company of unfair competition.

Equally questionable is the AfTL article's assertion that the permission to use the
PDF format is "puzzling and arbitrary". If it's only about open formats,
the article asks, why is a proprietary one, such as PDF, allowed to stay? This one
is easy to answer: comparing OpenDocument to PDF is like comparing
apples to orange-colored glasses. OpenDocument is designed for collaborative
editing, while PDF is for read-only distribution. When you receive a PDF
file, it is in that format because the author did not want you to change it.
The problem is in the relationship, or lack thereof, between you and
that author--it has nothing to do with format openness. There is no reason
to use the same criteria when deciding to accept or reject OpenDocument and PDF.

Basically, the only point worth considering in these articles against
OpenDocument is the accusation that, unlike MS Office, the programs supporting OpenDocument
today lack assistive technologies for users with disabilities. As it
turns out, however, even this particular complaint basically is void.
First of all, nothing in OpenDocument itself works against vision
impairment. Second, nobody prevents MS Office from supporting
OpenDocument. Finally, the Massachusetts FAQ explicitly says that "agencies
can retain copies of MS Office as needed for disabled employees and other
citizens. The legal rights of employees and other citizens with disabilities
will take precedence over any particular implementation of the policy". The
policy even "permits agencies to keep their existing MS licenses as long as
the software supporting them includes a method for saving documents in
OpenDocument Format". So, after reading these articles against
OpenDocument and the Massachusetts FAQ, one has to wonder what these
complaints actually are about--apart, of course, from perpetuating an
existing monopoly.
Now Is the Time to Act
As Massachusetts Chief IT Officer Peter Quinn said, "[This] is about
government sovereignty and history and keeping it available to
citizens". Nothing more, nothing less.

If computer programs are pens, then think of file formats as
alphabets. There is nothing wrong in selling overpriced pens, as long as
cheap models also exist. But the whole thing is contingent on everybody
using the same alphabet, without needing to pay fees or learn special
secrets. OpenDocument is the digital version of our alphabets.

You can do a lot to protect your rights, your money and what has been
called "our digital memory". A computer program may not belong to you,
but there is no question that your data does. Don't let anybody take it
hostage. Ask your software supplier today to support OpenDocument, for
example, through
this
petition. Above all, ask to your state, county, city and school
administration to follow Massachussetts' example.

Marco Fioretti is a hardware systems engineer interested in free
software both as an EDA platform and, as the current leader of the RULE
Project, as an efficient desktop. He also is a member of the
OpenDocument
Fellowship. Marco lives with his family in Rome,
Italy.