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Massachusetts Promotes Open Standards
by Dave Murphy

The State of Massachusetts has implemented a policy toward software purchases that favors open-source applications and open standards for state-owned computers.

When evaluating both new purchases and system upgrades, the state will now give preference to open-source applications, such as those that make use of XML (Extensible Markup Language). The policy's goal is to take advantage of interoperability and minimize the limitations imposed by proprietary applications and file formats.

When proprietary products are clearly superior, they may continued to be purchased.

Dave's Opinion
Following in the steps made by Munich, Germany, Massachusetts joins a growing list of governments that are opting to no longer rely on Microsoft applications for all computing applications. Interestingly, Microsoft says that Massachusetts' policy could discriminate against software makers. How so?, I wonder.

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References
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10.01.03 @ 12:27 AM ET
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