[Scribus] Scribus on the list of recommended apps for Massachusetts

[Christoph Schäfer]

Steven Boothe schrieb:
> Christoph Sch?fer wrote:
> 
>> Steven Boothe schrieb:
>>
>>> Christoph Sch?fer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> have a look at:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.mass.gov/portal/site/massgovportal/menuitem.59254d74c0e831c14db4a11030468a0c/?pageID=itdterminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Policies%2c+Standards+%26+Legal&L2=Open+Standards&L3=Open+Formats&sid=Aitd&b=terminalcontent&f=policies_standards_opendocformfaqs&csid=Aitd 
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Actually suggesting that it was "recommended" is stretching things a 
>>> bit. It was merely listed as one of many current applications that 
>>> also support the Open Document Format. None of the applications were 
>>> recommended over any other. If anything was advocated it was the 
>>> format of the output, with liberty being given to use "any" 
>>> application, just as long as the output was Open Document compatible, 
>>> and even then there were exceptions allowed for issues over 
>>> accessibility, etc.
>>>
>>> Just for the sake of clarity I hope that helped.
>>
>>
>> Hi Steven,
>>
>> you're right in that none of the applications named on the list are 
>> real recommendations. But it's most important to notice that they are 
>> _qualified_ for use in MS. With respect to ODF, Scribus seems to be 
>> the only DTP software that meets Massachusetts' requirements. Since 
>> Adobe is member of OASIS, I suppose InDesign will follow soon, but the 
>> fact that scribus has been identified as a product qualified for use 
>> in public administration is quite encouraging.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Christoph

Hi Steven,
> 
> Hi Christoph:
> 
> I agree it is most encouraging to see it qualified for use, but 
> unfortunately at present I am fairly certain the computing requirements
> make its' use extremely unlikely. Why? Because if you noticed from the 
> big document format they are moving away from is a Microsoft based 
> format, which in turn we can be quite sure that they are also running 
> Microsoft Windows on %99.9 of all their computers. This is the point I 
> was trying to get at, although in a round about way. If Scribus had been 
> formally "recommended" it would have right now meant a migration of more 
> than just another document type, but also would require a much larger, 
> more painful, and politically charged migration to the Linux operating 
> system on their desktops in order to run it "out of the box".
 >
> 
> Thus the inclusion of Scribus in the list of apps is "nice", and indeed 
> "encouraging", but until either the state of MASS migrates to Linux or 
> Scribus is available natively as an easy install for windows, the 
> listing is of little more than marketing value. 

I think Massachusetts won't change their IT anytime soon. ODF is a 
format for future Implementations. I don't recall exactly, but I think I 
have read, MA (thanks to Greg ;:  ) may not start before 2007. Moreover, 
until then, Scribus will be available for Windows as well.

> But hey your right, 
> being mentioned and knowing that it qualifies at output is very good. 
> Just not likely to be used in the short term due to the OS requirements. 
>  But yes, these are good steps in the right direction to which will 
> hopefully be many more.

That was actually the main point :)
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Steven


Cheers,

Christoph