Groklaw on Fox on Massachusetts and OpenDocument

Does this Fox News opinion piece leave you slack-jawed and sputtering like it did me? Before you fire off that e-mail to James Prendergast explaining basics he seems not to grasp – like the difference between OpenOffice.org and OpenDocument, or the difference between monopoly control and competition, or how openness is in fact a “merit” just like price and software quality – read the response offered by Groklaw. It’s quite thorough. Also make sure you follow the link to background information on Prendergast’s Americans for Technology Leadership, “frequently described as a Microsoft front group.”

Whether or not Prendergast is intentionally pimping for MS, he’s saying a lot of incorrect things that are going to become talking points in this rhetorical battle, so if you care about the Massachusetts decision you need to know what he’s saying.

The bottom line, which is made clear in the Groklaw piece, is that Microsoft is only on the outside here because it has chosen to be. I expect MS will figure out a way to save face and come around to OpenDocument. Frankly, I hope they do it soon, if only to reduce the number of opinion pieces Prendergast will be writing on the subject.