> But what I was proposing more moderate, that the governments only adopt "Open Standards" as they are known.
For the most part, govts don't "adopt" standards. Customers do.
Yes, standards are published and "imprinted" by standards bodies that occasionally have govt members, but the legitmacy of those organizations comes from customer acceptance.
Note that customers have fairly short memories and almost no loyalty. They care about their needs. They don't actually care whether something meets an IEEE standard - they care whether it does what they want for a price that they're willing to pay. Yes, standards may help them identify satisfactory goods and help with price, but that doesn't imply that customers care about standards.
Many governments will only, or preferentially, purchase and use products that are standardized, primarily to prevent vendor lock-in for themselves but also to balance the larger market and ensure competition. Their massive purchasing power is a driver for standardization for things like PDF, ODF, OOXML etc.
> Many governments will only, or preferentially, purchase and use products that are standardized
Thanks for pointing out that govts act as customers.
Yes, govts prefer standards in some cases, but I'd be surprised if it mostly was standards driven. Consider all the vehicles purchased - not a single one is "standard" and they all contain exclusively patented components.
For the most part, govts don't "adopt" standards. Customers do.
Yes, standards are published and "imprinted" by standards bodies that occasionally have govt members, but the legitmacy of those organizations comes from customer acceptance.
Note that customers have fairly short memories and almost no loyalty. They care about their needs. They don't actually care whether something meets an IEEE standard - they care whether it does what they want for a price that they're willing to pay. Yes, standards may help them identify satisfactory goods and help with price, but that doesn't imply that customers care about standards.