Today is Document Freedom Day; Here's Why It Matters.

Have you ever had trouble opening a document or file because it was created using different software than the package or version you currently use? Or have you ever opted to go with one of the dominant programs out there--such as Microsoft Office--simply in the hopes of avoiding any potential compatibility problems?

If so, you should be participating in Document Freedom Day, which is under way right now around the globe.

This Wednesday, supporters are participating in events and taking steps of their own to support open standards, which are designed to promote interoperability, user choice, and freedom from vendor lock-in.

Increased Competition

Proprietary software makers have an inherent interest in locking users into their own offerings and the formats they use. Open standards, on the other hand, seek the opposite.

Specifically, they're designed to ensure that you can choose any operating system or application and still be able to read and edit all your old documents, for example. They also aim to enable collaboration regardless of the different parties' software choices.

With open standards, citizens can use whichever software package they want to interact with their government as well, Document Freedom Day's organizers point out.

Less obvious--but no less important--is that open standards lead to more competition in software, and more effective governmental IT solutions that avoid the cost of lock-in, they add.

Six Ways to Participate

Document Freedom Day has been celebrated each year since 2008, and its many supporters include Google and the Document Foundation as well as actor Stephen Fry. Organized by the Free Software Foundation Europe, Document Freedom Day was celebrated at 42 events in 14 different countries last year.

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Today is Document Freedom Day; Here's Why It Matters.