Simon Willison’s Weblog

[In Mali...] The outcome of this rampant illegal software copying is that Windows is seen as "the first world standard" and any attempt to push a cheaper alternative is strongly resisted. They consider it trying to cheat local people out of getting the same quality of software that is used in the developed world, even though it's a legal way of getting quality software for free.

— Jeremy Allison

# 9th December 2008, 8:03 am / mali, africa, linux, open-source, windows, piracy, jeremy-allison

My own favorites were Cuba voting "yes" to the fast-tracking of OOXML, even though Microsoft is prohibited by the US Government from selling any software on the island that might even be able to read and write the new format, and Azerbaijan's "yes" vote, even though OOXML as defined isn't able to express a Web URL address in Azeri, their official language.

— Jeremy Allison

# 15th September 2007, 10:40 am / ooxml, iso, standards, microsoft, jeremy-allison, odf, cuba, azerbaijan