About Massachusetts…

You know how I always tell you when I make a mistake? Well, it looks like I made one when I told you that I didn’t think Massachusetts would care what you said in any emails about Microsoft’s OfficeOpen XML specification (now Ecma 376) being proposed as an addition to their list of usable “open standards”. I’m hearing that they are reading the emails and will take them seriously. It’s a proposal, and it’s not yet carved in stone. Time will tell if they mean it, but with that reassurance, I have to put my cynicism on hold, at least for now, and say that if this is an issue you care about, you need to let them know how you feel in polite and informative emails before July 20th, 2007. It never hurts to try, particularly since I’ve no doubt Microsoft is lobbying wherever it can. When I thought it was useless, I didn’t want to pretend otherwise or have you engage in make work. But if it has a chance, it’s very different.

Here’s the address to write to: standards at state.ma.us. (Only use the @ symbol instead of the at.)

I suspect the most important thing right now is numbers, so even a short email is helpful. They can’t know how you feel unless you tell them, and they can’t understand the tech unless it’s presented with proofs of statements made. And remember, it’s a new crew, so some of the things we explained the first time may not have been transferred to the new brains at the helm. So please let me provide you with some resources, so that if you wish some materials at hand to compose a more thoughtful and more technical email, it will save you some time.

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