Perhaps it is not so notable, but 26 March 2008 is the first Document Freedom Day.
Early in the development of computer technology, the world decided to take the well-traveled road: the road of proprietary document formats. This path led to endless headaches, unnecessary costs, and the inability of people to use their machines to their full potential. It created obscure vectors for the spread of viruses.
The road not taken, was the road of open document formats. But now some brazen souls are heading out that way.
Open document formats have several advantages.
- Granting accessibility and perennity to your data: both you and the users of your data will always be able to read and access them.
- Granting a complete transparency to the content of your files.
- Limiting the propagation of viruses: adopting open formats drastically helps reducing the risk of contamination.
- Promoting diversity and interoperability in the domain of electronic communication.
The ODF Alliance points out that the use of open document standards ensures that documents will be readable far into the future. It ensures that information can be shared in emergency situations. It enables more competition in the marketplace. It should help to keep costs down.
What would Robert Frost say about open document formats?
All I would keep for myself is the freedom of my material -- the condition of body and mind now and then to summons aptly from the vast chaos of all I have lived through.
Robert Frost,
The Figure a Poem Makes
Forget "where would you like to go today?" Take the road less traveled, and keep for yourself the freedom of your material.
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