On 5/14/08, Michael P. Gerlek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm not looking to start a debate, but... >
you just did, and a good one at that. > >> We call on all governments to: > >> > >> 1. Procure only information technology that implements free and > open standards; > >> 2. Deliver e-government services based exclusively on free and open > standards; > >> 3. Use only free and open digital standards in their own > activities. > >> > > I'm certainly sympathetic to the desires this declaration seems to > express, but this seems to go too far by using words like "only" and > "exclusively". indeed. As much as an open source advocate, proponent and practitioner I have, I see little positive effect that this declaration would have. In all likelihood, it would further brand us as zealots. I thought "us" or "them" went out the window a few years ago when we realized that working together is better. "free and open digital standards" is all well and good but a meaningless concept. Standard for what? > > There are undoubtedly cases where extant open standards are not as > mature, stable, featureful, mission-safe, etc, as the relevant > proprietary solutions, and so as a pragmatic matter governments must > rely on the proprietary works in those cases. > > > -mpg > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris Puttick > > Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 11:28 AM > > To: discuss@lists.osgeo.org > > Subject: [OSGeo-Discuss] Re: Sign the Hague declaration > > > > Hi all > > > > A new group is being formed to promote open digital > > standards, starting with a declaration regarding the > > importance of digital standards being truly open: > > > > http://www.digistan.org/hague-declaration:en > > > > Please read it and sign if you agree. I'm sure most working > > with spatial data would have encountered problems with the > > core areas where standards are missing or not being supported > > properly. Think GIS projects. Or CAD. I'm sure there are others... > > > > Cheers > > > > Chris > > > > > > ------ > > Files attached to this email may be in ISO 26300 format > > (OASIS Open Document Format). If you have difficulty opening > > them, please visit http://iso26300.info for more information. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Discuss mailing list > > Discuss@lists.osgeo.org > > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss > > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > Discuss@lists.osgeo.org > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss > -- Puneet Kishor http://punkish.eidesis.org/ Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/ Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) http://www.osgeo.org/ _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss