[ubuntu-uk] Open formats in UK gov?

[Nigel Verity]

I think that standardising on open formats is a significant step but it is a long, long way from seeing the likes of LibreOffice running on the typical civil servant's desktop. Without exception, the big UK government FM contracts for IT provision and support are all let to companies with a huge vested interest in maintaining their relationship with Microsoft. If all that's being opened up is the use of ODF, Microsoft will point out that they support ODF, though their implementation is far from perfect, but that's no different from LibreOffice's implementation of the DOCX format.

In schools and elsewhere people are not taught "word processing". They are taught explicitly how to use MS Word. Likewise with "spreadsheets" and Excel. Although for most people the transition to LibreOffice would be fairly trivial, the civil service would insist that everyone is given conversion training. Microsoft could reasonably point to a high cost of migration which, combined with the cost of Office pared back to cost price or less, would see the company able to maintain its stranglehold on government IT procurement. Civil servants can already buy personal copies of Office Pro for well under £20. Think of the price the government would get when ordering half a million copies.

Nige 		 	   		  
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