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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Freedom To Choose Again

No-one really mentioned the news on Friday that the US state of Massachusetts has taken a strategic decision (independently of its struggles with Microsoft) to mandate open standards in future IT acquisitions [thanks, Flip]. This is something of a landmark for two reasons.

Firstly, it presents a state-level decision to value openness - the freedom to choose again - above just purchase price, like the city of Munich did in Germany. This is as it should be - why should the current administration be able to dictate the procurement decisions of the following administrations by mandating solutions that can only be sustained by one vendor?

Secondly, it is a decision to mandate open standards - interfaces, file formats, protocols and executables - rather than just open source. That may sound radical, but one can build relatively closed systems using an open source methodology - the word 'open' in 'open source' does not magically deliver the freedom to choose again. That freedom is best delivered by open standards in the areas I've listed above, with a reference implementation or 'gold standard' implemented openly by a community. Open Standards + Open Source = Freedom, and Massachusetts is boldly and wisely leading by example and preserving its freedom to choose again.

posted at 6:47 PM (UK) | |