[LINK] M$ lock-in

[Evan.ARTHUR at Dest.gov.au]

Howard wrote:
<<Surely it's time that the gummint insisted that the work they fund is
made totally available 

Without in any way commenting on the case which is the subject of
Howard's gentle remonstrations, I thought Linkers may be interested in
the approach taken in The Learning Federation, the major schools on line
learning materials project funded by the Commonwealth, State and
Territory Governments.  The technical specifications are at
http://www.tlf.edu.au/tlf2/sitefiles/images/documents/Technical_Specific
ations_V3_2.pdf

They include the following:  "Interoperability.  The aim of this
principle is to ensure that the Initiative's content can be used on and
shared between a wide range of software and hardware platforms. It
assumes that the content will be used within operating environments that
support internationally adopted standards and specifications." 

Any thoughts on the adequacy of the specs in terms of interoperability?
We are certainly interested in the issue of how to promote awareness of
interoperability issues in educational products (and yes I have noted
the specs doc is in PDF).  

Evan Arthur
Group Manager
Innovation and Research Systems Group
Department of Education, Science and Training 


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