from http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080420111512402&mode=print A Dutch study has recently been translated and published in English, "The acquisition of (open-source) software <http://ososs.nl/verwerving/en>", by Nederland Open in Verbinding (NOiV), which finds that *in [all of] Europe['s Public Administrations], gratis software does not require tendering and so gratis Open Source software can be freely downloaded without having to go through the usual purchase process.* It's a guide to acquisition and implementation of Open Source software, and the authors are very interested in any input, comments, suggestions you might have. Then I noticed something in the study that caught my attention [...]: *there is a European directive regarding the reuse of information. This states that governments must make their documents available in formats that are not bound to specific software, where possible and where appropriate.*Open standards fulfill this requirement. Since the recent ISO FAQ<http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease/faqs_isoiec29500.htm>says some claim the purpose of OOXML is to provide additional functionality ODF does not, namely to render Microsoft legacy documents, I wondered if OOXML, despite being approved as an ISO standard, can qualify under this directive.